Chronicles of a Shorty Cadet
by Crazy Mary-J
Summary: Being short isn't easy, especially when you've enrolled in the Shinra Military Department. Cloud Strife, rebellious 14 year old, shorty cadet, is determined to become a SOLDIER and prove his worth. Hell and total embarassment ensues.YAOI SephirothXCloud
1. Hell

**_Disclaimer:_** _You know, I'm getting really tired of adding these things... I do not own anything FFVII related... yadda, yadda, yadda... you people know it. You _are _in a fanfiction archive after all. I suspect you'd know what this is all about if you're here._

_So yeah... basically, this will eventually be yaoi... so you're warned. If this is not your thing, get lost... don't wanna hear your yappin'! It will probably be long... at least, I hope so. I'll try to update as frequently, but people who've followed some of my other fiction will know that I might just not keep my word. I will try though._

_This will eventually be Sephiroth/Cloud fic. Again, if this is not your thing, go away. Everyone else, love ya! This won't be a fluffy, happy story, but it will NOT be overly-angsty. Anyways, I'm pretty sure after reading this first chapter, you will have a good idea how the rest of the fic will be. Sarcastic, ironic... passionate, even, but not in a uber-romantic sort of way (ICKY)... that's how I usually write. It eventually WILL reach NC-17 (or MA... whatever... I don't know how this new rating system works...) but I will post the NC-17 parts on my website. Again, this might take some time, but I promise it will eventually come._

_Now, with a little bit of history detail._ _If we consider what we DO know from the game, even though Sephiroth's age was never explicitly mentioned... we DO know that he is Lucrecia's son. Vincent mentioned that he has been sleeping in that coffin for 30 years (or "more than 3 decades" is what he said, if I remember correctly. I do know that he said something of the sort, so do correct me if I'm wrong) Okay... so, he put himself in that coffin because he let Lucrecia be used as a test subject for the Jenova project and couldn't protect her nor her childt. Hojo injected the cells into her while she was pregnant so that their son could inherit Jenova's cells and be the real test subject. I assume Sephiroth was born only a short time after that (since babies usually take 9 months to develop… ahem…), and Sephiroth told Zack (or Cloud) his mom died giving birth to him, during the flashback in Nibelheim (when really… who knows what exactly happened to her… we'll have to wait for Dirge of Cerberus…). Alright, so that would mean Sephiroth was born 30 years ago. Sephiroth went crazy 5 years before the game, hence was 25 when he disappeared and Cloud 16. Now, this story happened 7 years ago, when Cloud left for Midgar to become a SOLDIER. 30 - 7 makes 23, in my world... so that would make Cloud 14. All in all, Sephiroth is not an old perv (okay maybe he is a little...) and they only have 9 years of age difference... so they can shag all they want... happy?_

_Good._

_I will first post only the first chapter, even though I have finished the second one also. I want to see how people react to the first chapter and if I judge it a good one, I will continue posting... if not... well I won't waste my time and will continue writing for my own lil pleasure... alone... hidden under a rock...-runs away crying-_

_Here it comes..._

_BUUUUUUUUURN, BABY! (Those of you who have played Tales of Symphonia, squeal away with me now)_

**Chapter 1**

**Hell**

The golden haired boy sighed dejectedly as he heavily let himself fall backwards on the small mattress of his bunker bed. Arms and legs sluggishly spread around him, he stared blankly at the bed above him. He would have preferred to choose the upper mattress of the bunker when he first arrived, but his dorm mate had beaten him to it. Literally.

The room he was assigned to was somewhat small, ugly even, but with just enough space for the bunker bed and two dressers for both of the occupants' belongings. Cloud and his dorm mate also had a closet of their own on their respective side of the room, but unfortunately, had no choice but to share a bathroom. Even though the brute was extremely messy and usually left the place in a mess, Cloud endured it. It was either that or the communal showers down the corridor of their Squad's section of the building.

Cloud wasn't necessarily _scared_ of any of them. He just knew how to stay away from trouble, because none of his superiors would ever help _him_ or take _his_ side if he was to be caught in a fight. He despised his pig of a dorm mate, and avoided any confrontation with the rest of his squad if he could, because those usually found their way easily towards the spiky haired blond.

He was like a freaking _magnet_.

Whether it was because of his height, his tendency for rebellious, even sharp attitude or the unmanageable spikes on his head, he didn't know, but one thing _was_ certain; life at Shinra Military Academy had been everything _but_ easy for him.

Cloud had arrived in Midgar just but a short month ago and he already knew coming here had been the worst mistake of his life. He had known ever since the _very first day_. Of course, Shinra had accepted him at the military academy; they accepted everyone, so that hadn't been a problem. But the mocking sneers he had first received from the soldiers-as-clerks when presenting his registration papers had instantly told him all he needed to know on how his presence would be deemed in the days to come. Both men at the registration office had measured at least six feet, and their bodies, large and muscled had invoked anything but the impression of gentleness.

That day, Cloud - thin, lanky form of five feet four inches - had forced down a sob of despair. Even his long, blond spikes had been of no help to him in this situation. He was almost certain that the clerks had felt the urge to laugh at him, though he hadn't been sure if it was out of pity or mockery… or both… but he was very grateful that these men _had_ been ordered to follow strict procedures.

His fiery, stubborn nature had quickly erased any trace of self-pity or remorse in his system, replacing the feelings with violent determination. He had glared at the much taller, arrogant men, had forcefully shoved his applications and personal information sheets on the desk in front of them. He had then raised his chin defiantly. If the conceited bastards believed _they _could intimidate _Cloud Strife_, they were strongly mistaking.

Yeah, so _what _if he had extremely drastic mood swings!

Seeing the boy's change in attitude, the soldiers had taken the roughly offered sheets, smirking, and had instructed him to walk down the corridor behind them to join his comrades-in-arms to be.

No, the Shinra Military Department never refused anyone; they preferred to completely humiliate those foolish enough to join, knowing good and well what kind of torture they would endure if not fit for the job.

Just like Cloud.

If the stares of those two Soldiers at the register desk had been disconcerting, the looks the rest of the new candidates Cloud had soon found himself surrounded by were pure, utter agony. They might not have been all as fit and muscled as the clerks, but most of them were at least 2 years older than the short spiky haired blond – or looked it - , meaning _they_ had already gone through major growth spurts.

Why had he decided to leave Nibelheim, again?

Right, for the exact same reason these _assholes_ were staring at him. So they thought he wasn't good enough? That they were _superior_? He was going to prove everyone he was strong, that he could kick every last one of _their_ asses. He wasn't going to be _anyone_'s bitch.

Glaring back murderously at each and every last one of the derisive stares, he shifted his large, heavy back pack, which he'd been holding with his right hand, over his shoulder. Holding his glare, he raised his chin slightly higher and walked closer to the front of the room. For some reason, it seemed like the entire area had grown silent the moment he walked in, but people were finally beginning to resume their conversations. Cloud distinguished several scornful snorts through the gradually growing voices. He knew they were probably all directed at him, but he couldn't have been bothered.

Joining the Shinra Military had been his decision and he was determined to suffer the consequences of his idiotic choices. Why the hell was he the _only_ shorty in this world determined to prove his worth?

Right… because _this_ shorty was also retarded, pig headed and masochistic.

His mother had _always_ told him his personality was the worst of combinations.

After harshly pushing his way through several larger bodies - of which several sneered degrading comments at him and were, of course, all ignored by Cloud – the spiky haired youth finally managed to find himself a dark, deserted spot, in a corner of the room. He headed towards it, let his heavy bag fall to the ground and sat down beside it; back resting against the wall, head and arms slumped against his raised knees.

Cloud and the rest of the candidates in the room waited for a few hours. All talked cheerfully, a majority boasting to each other of whatever incredible feat they had accomplished before deciding to apply at the Shinra Military.

At that moment, it had been all the more evident that his choice had not been a good one. He did not belong in this sort of environment.

He had begun to grow quite impatient when he noticed that someone was pushing their way through the crowd a few meters before him. The person was finally able to make his way through, bouncing away from the crowd. Glaring backwards and shouting a long trail of profanities he turned around towards Cloud, grinning down cheerfully at him.

The Wutainese teenager had straight, black hair that went down just below his eyes… and he was short. At that moment, Cloud had known that this guy would be the only friendly acquaintance he'd make in a long time… and up until now, one month later, Cloud had yet to be proven wrong.

The short teen moved towards him quickly and squatted down to his level, reaching out a hand. "Mura Hiroki!" he said cheerfully, dark, almond shaped eyes sparkling amiably as he presented himself.

Cloud stared down at the extended hand. Had they now created the "shorty club" amongst all the jocks? He was aware - had always been - that he was doomed to remain short for the rest of his life, but somehow, to have no choice but linger with "his kind", was somewhat unnerving.

Why were people so shallow?

Sighing exasperatedly, Cloud reached out for the boy's hand, shaking it half-heartedly. "Cloud Strife."

The young man straightened up, beaming down at his newly found friend.

"I'm not sure how Wutainese people function with names…" Cloud trailed quietly, attempting to start conversation.

"Oh!" the boy exclaimed. "We say our last names before the first… so you can just call me Hiroki."

Cloud nodded. Silence grew between them, but Hiroki didn't seem to feel uncomfortable with it, so the spiky haired blond decided he wouldn't need to rack his brain to find subjects he most _definitely_ did not feel like conversing about at that moment.

Apparently, fate was upon him after all, that day, for several of the people around them grew silent, only to turn around and stare curiously at the front of the room, where a stage could be found.

Several people - five in total (2 female, 3 male) and each wearing dark blue suits, white dress shirts underneath their jackets and shades over their eyes - slowly walked on stage from a hidden door to the left. They stopped, arms folded behind their backs and extremely solemn looks tracing their faces, each located at equal distances, strategically guarding the entire back area of the stage. As soon as they had taken their position, several other men followed, all forming a perfectly straight line at the center of the stage. They were tall and muscled. Each of them wore similar baggy uniforms of different shades, but all wore a small emblem on their belts; a drawing which looked like a head on top of a human torso.

Cloud had stared dreamily at it for hours in his childhood enough times to know exactly what it represented.

SOLDIER.

Even though some of the men in the crowd had mocked Cloud earlier that day, each of them now shared his emotion as they stared at those men. All eyes were fixed upon the badges on their belts, openly ogling them in admiration.

A hatch suddenly slid open, situated in the middle of the back wall of the stage and revealed a door. The SOLDIERs and people-in-suits instantly repositioned to form a path perpendicular to the door, just in time for it to open. A slightly porky man, wearing expensive looking, burgundy suit slowly walked out of the door and made his way towards the front of the stage, walking in the path the other men and women had formed for him. His blond, whitening hair was slicked back on his head.

Cloud instantly noticed the threatening aura which practically _glowed_ around the man. If he hadn't seen him in the news papers before, he still would have recognized him as no other than President ShinRa. But even if a man of such importance had suddenly graced the room with his presence, Cloud could pay no attention to him as he noticed the much taller form which closely followed him.

He could only distinguish the top of the other person's silky, silver haired head, but that simple detail was enough to render Cloud's senses numb. Quickly, the spiky blond haired youth jumped off the ground, standing up as tall as he could.

It was _him_.

The spiky haired youth could nearly feel the people around him bubbling with restrained excitement and awe. He knew his eyes had already begun to widen, that he was holding his breath. He had prepared himself for this moment a thousand times before, but somehow, he still could not stop his entire body from freezing.

President ShinRa finally stopped at the front of the stage. Transfixed, Cloud's blue gazed followed closely as, slowly, the tall, intimidating man whom had been following him, walked to his sides in long, prowling strides. His pale face wore no expression as he stopped beside his President, staring down coldly at the crowd below him. His large, powerful body was completely clothed in black. His long, leather trench coat, which he wore tightly on his chest, and lose below the waist, freely fell around his legs. Underneath his coat, a large belt with the SOLDIER symbol was clasped around his midsection, the single clasp of his coat right below it causing the upper portion to open even wider against his sculpted, bare chest, shadowed by two crossed leather bands. He wore black, baggy leather pants and long military boots. On his shoulders, over his coat, metal, shoulder plates were clasped, making his already broad shoulders seem ever larger. Cloud could distinguish an extremely long, thin sword attached across the man's back, resting in its sheath.

On any other man, the cascade of silky, silver hair falling down his back and before his eyes might have looked feminine, but on this daunting person, it could only emphasize his unique, petrifying, mesmerizing demeanor.

The menacing SOLDIER was the perfect image of calm and control but… at the same time, emanated a feel of powerful and cool violence. His glowing, icy, aqua gaze invoked a chilling, paralyzing fear within Cloud, like daggers slicing through his soul, reading his very mind, breaking through his mental barriers… and yet, he could only admire it.

The man's presence seemed to have completely numbed the crowd, causing all eyes to stare with intense fascination.

_He_ was the true reason Cloud had decided to join. _He_ was the one Cloud had always dreamed of becoming.

His hero… his goal… his idol…

General Sephiroth.

The _Great_ Sephiroth.

After but a few seconds, President Shinra began a speech, congratulating all whom had come and explaining what joining the organization meant with great pride and honor… but Cloud could hear no words as his eyes remained fixed upon the SOLDIER General, admiring the person he had idolized for the most part of his life. Somehow, finally seeing the _real_ man and not only the dream image he had so many times summoned in his mind only brought his goals closer to fulfillment. At that moment, he had felt determination swell up and engulf him completely. He would become like this man, he would make everyone _proud_.

Just as his lips spread into a dazed grin, his body completely froze seeing those intense, glowing aqua orbs slowly fall upon him, staring, observing him. He could feel the sharp gaze cut through his very soul, reading him like an open book.

_Sephiroth_ _was looking at him._

He felt dizzy, like the oxygen in the air had suddenly completely vanished. His eyes widened impossibly. He felt his body begin to tremble.

Why was he acting this way? This was his chance to make himself be noticed by his idol! Why wouldn't he move? Why was he gaping like a frightened child?

_He couldn't breath._

He jumped, startled when he felt a hand close around his forearm. His head shot to the side, only to find Hiroki staring at him worriedly.

He took a deep calming breath and hesitatingly, he glanced back at Sephiroth. From far away, the aqua orbs were still upon him. Cloud noticed a thin quirk at the corner of the emotionless man's lips before his cold gaze swept away from him, to stare back and forth at the rest of the crowd, smirk disappeared.

The spiky haired young man could almost hear the silent words spoken the mysterious, brief gesture. Their echoes whispered inside his mind accusingly, trying to slowly crush him.

Derision…?

Pity…?

Yes, even Sephiroth, having glanced upon him but a brief moment from afar, had known how thoughtless a boy Cloud had been to join the Military forces.

Cloud felt humiliation burning through his heart, spreading like wildfire through his veins. How could he have been so weak? How could he have allowed himself to act so foolishly? Sephiroth had gazed at him and he had instantly been paralyzed. _He was a disgrace!_

Glaring at the side of the General's face, he promised to both himself and his hero that he would never again allow himself to show such shameful behavior; one day he would become a powerful fighter.

A month had now passed since Cloud's faithful meeting with the General - if one could even call it that; the man _had_ been several meters away, after all – he still had yet to find an opportunity to prove his worth. He had never once broken the promise he had made to himself on his first day at the academy, but circumstances had made it very hard for him not to lose the energy, or the will to follow his dreams.

There were many classes to be attended every day (M.U.P: Mako uses and properties; physical training, hand-to-hand combat, weapon training, tactical training…) of which he believed he did not have much difficulty following. The problems he encountered were mostly with the other cadets who, so far, had made it their personal duty to make his and Hiroki's life a living hell. The instructors were of no better support either and he'd be damned if he _ever_ went to ask for their help; he would endure everything the rest of them sent his way and he would _prove _them all that he was better a SOLDIER than _they_ could **_ever_ **be.

Sighing, the blond cadet shifted on his bunker bed. This was usually how he spent the end of his afternoons; thinking how badly his life sucked. He'd then begin wondering how his mother was faring back home, only to abruptly remind himself that he wasn't some stupid sissy and instead resumed his brooding instead.

Exciting, wasn't it?

Like that was _his_ fault!

Before Cloud could ever let another sigh of despair escape him, a soft swishing noise came from behind him, making him instead groan miserably.

_Bill_ was back.

Closing his eyes in an attempt to feign sleep, Cloud sensed the older man pass the bunker bed and move towards the bath room.

"Yo! Short-ass!" the young man's hoarse voice suddenly yelled from inside the restroom.

The spiky haired blond felt his well restrained hatred ignite. Sitting up on his mattress, he turned towards the man, glaring.

"What do _you_ want?" he sneered rudely.

He heard Bill stomp his way back towards the bunk bed and soon found himself in the large shadow of his room mate.

"Don't you play smart ass with me, _Choco-head_," the older youth spat.

Cloud felt his entire body tense with reserved fury. **_Someday… someday… _**he swore to himself furiously.

"Just tell me what the hell you want then!" Cloud shouted back and soon found his hair caught in the much stronger man's death grip, as he pulled his body into a standing position and tugged his head closer to his.

The blond haired youth glared up at the taller young man defiantly.

"Did you steal my gym key-card?" Bill inquired threateningly. Cloud felt the urge to laugh. He might not have been able to defend himself, but the bastard was fooling himself if he thought _he_ could scare **_him_**.

"What if I _did_?" Cloud smirked, staring mockingly into the older youth's eyes.

Cloud gasped in pain as Bill pulled sharply at his blond spikes, bringing a stinging burn to his scalp.

"If I find out you _really_ have it…" the following violent tug at Cloud's hair made it clear what he planned to do to him. Without another word, Bill released his room mate, pushing him back on his bunker bed forcefully and left the room stomping, metal door swishing closed behind him.

"**_ASSHOLE!_**" Cloud screamed the second he heard the door close, punching the mattress beneath him angrily.

"Oy, who _you _callin' an asshole, huh?" suddenly exclaimed a voice much different from Bill's. Startled, Cloud's head shot up, only to find a dark haired, Wutainese boy standing in the door frame, back laid against it and arms crossed over his lithe chest.

The spiky haired cadet smiled softly at the sight of Hiroki. He'd grown to like the guy even though they had only met a short while ago. He was extremely optimistic and cheerful; both of which were attitudes Cloud often found himself unable to be. Hiroki was of great help to him, albeit he felt like strangling him half of the time. When Cloud was pissed, you just didn't bother him… but somehow, the Wutainese had yet to understand this fact and for that, the spiky haired blond was grateful. Not many would have endured his mood swings - hell _he_ had trouble enduring his _own_ mind – but Hiroki never seemed bothered.

All in all, Cloud didn't particularly mind being one of the founders of the 'Shorty Club' anymore… besides, he needed all the allies he could get to back him up in dire situations.

"So, what'd the oaf lose this time?" Hiroki asked cheerfully.

Yawning, Cloud stretched and by doing so, in mock discretion, reached inside the secret pocket of his blue, cadet uniform. He flipped the metal card between his index and middle finger and proudly showed it to his friend, grinning mischievously.

Hiroki's eyes widened as he bounced closer to Cloud's extended arm, grabbing his wrists and pulling it to him to carefully inspect the thin object.

"_Eh?!_ No way! I can't believe you actually _stole_ it from him!" Hiroki exclaimed, straightening up as he scowled down reproachfully, albeit uncertainly, at the blond.

Oh yeah, had he mentioned that Hiroki was _also_ a coward - or, what _he_ liked to call himself, mentally sane -? In other words, Cloud actually _didn't_ have any allies to back him up if dire situations were to present themselves. But at least the wimp would be there to drag his bloodied ass out of trouble once everything would be finished.

Thank the Planet he'd never gone up to that point yet, because he wasn't so sure he completely trusted Hiroki, yet.

Cloud supposed his spineless attitude could be forgiven though, because Hiroki had not joined the Shinra Army by choice; he had been forced by his family. Being a child from the slums, the only other options set by his _loving_ parents had been either, illegal activities or living in the streets.

Cloud safely hid the gym keycard back inside the hidden pocket of his uniform shirt, grinning confidently.

"Growing men need their exercise! Besides, I would have been able to get one of my own long before that gorilla, if it weren't for the incompetent instructors we have. I'm tired of trying to prove myself when no one will ever acknowledge what I'm capable of because of my looks; I simply took matters into my own hands," Cloud explained arrogantly, straightening up on his bed as he glared at his friend.

Hiroki raised an eyebrow doubtfully. "Is that why you always get your ass bashed to the ground whenever you have hand-to-hand combat practice?"

Cloud bounced to his feet furiously. "I don't!"

Hiroki's dark brows rose further. "You and I both know what you need to do to receive gym privileges; we all receive a key card after 10 successful battles."

Cloud crossed his arms, raising his chin stubbornly. "Tch… who are _you_ to talk? You aren't in my classes, or else you'd have seen that the instructors judge me unfairly just 'cause they don't _like _me."

Cloud had never once taken hand-to-hand combat practice lightly; he'd fought all his adversaries forcefully, body burning with determination… but somehow, he'd always managed to lose. Every time, before he made the first move, he would allow the fire, blazing in his heart and rushing down his veins to take over… but whenever a fight began, _something _always crushed his resolve. Whether it was because of memories of his childhood, his brain malfunctioned or he was just plain _weak_, the strength he _believed_ he had felt inside him somehow always vanished and he was left looking like that pathetic skinny cadet the majority of people here thought him to be.

But like _hell_ he was ever going to go back to Nibelheim baring that kind of poor excuse. He _would_ become a SOLDIER.

Cloud suddenly felt like punching the soft, bitter smile off Hiroki's face.

"Come on, we better go or else we'll be eatin' the left-overs," the Wutainese complained, pushing Cloud out of the room.

"T.G.I.F. huh?" the dark haired youth yawned, stretching as they hurriedly made their way towards the cafeteria, passing several men in lab-coats and higher ranked troopers as they walked down the wide, ugly metal hallways. Everything was made out of metal, here. Computers and advanced technology surrounded them everywhere. Cloud supposed it was inevitable, as they _were_ in the Headquarters of the world's most powerful army… and they were in _Midgar_ after all.

The spiky haired blond reminded himself to nod in acknowledgement. Hiroki hated being _too_ obviously ignored. They stopped in front of the elevator at the end of the corridor as Hiroki swiped his I.D. card through the scanner slot.

All personnel and cadet needed key cards to move through out the Shinra buildings at all times. The military HQ itself consisted of two buildings which were attached by a bridge-like corridor that connected between them. The Academy, smaller building of the two, had only 15 floors, 10 of which served as living quarters for each of the different Cadet Squads. The remaining floors served as training, research and recreational facilities. The second building, where all the fully trained troopers, SOLDIER members and officers resided, was the more intimidating building of the two, composed of 50 floors. The building's arrangements were mostly similar to the Academy's, except that it held more Squads. Cadets were not allowed inside, unless under special order or authorization. The Main Shinra Structure, the executive facility which controlled and directed everything that was the Shinra Company was in between these two Military towers. The Main Building was also off limits to all cadets and only troopers or SOLDIERs were allowed inside, but only on certain levels of the edifice.

The elevator doors finally swished open. Two officers passed the two teenagers, ignoring them completely. Cloud felt one of his frequently recurring urges to flip both of them off, but restrained himself as he simply followed his friend inside his elevator, watching him punch the basement level button.

"Man, I can't believe I survived last week. Cafeteria duties was pure _torture_, I swear!" the Wutainese suddenly complained. The spiky haired boy beside him suddenly felt his stomach give a nauseating back flip as he remembered that _his_ Squad would be attending those duties in three days, when the new week began.

Cafeteria duties switched from one Squad to another every week, following numerical order. Basically, the Army Council had deemed it essential for cadets to also learn the basics of _cooking_ during their training. While gone on missions, teams frequently needed to tend for themselves and death from malnutrition was apparently _not _an option. Hence, every week, except on week-ends, a different Cadet Squad was in charge of making the food for the rest of the Military Department… because the cafeteria was the only facility the ENTIRE department attended and shared, since both buildings only sported a single cafeteria, linked between both building at the basement level. To be given the chance of familiarizing with their superiors supposedly aided trainees in their development and inspired them. Another bright idea of the Military Department's Council.

In other words; SOLDIER members _and_ ranking officers attended it every day along side the cadets and troopers during breakfast, lunch and dining hours.

And Cloud couldn't cook for the _life_ of him.

With _his _luck, even though the man had never been seen in the Cafeteria ever since Cloud had arrived, General Sephiroth _himself_ would come down to eat the very first day of his duties.

He was _so_ dead.

Inside the elevator, the two teens descended to the cafeteria in silence. When the doors finally swished open before them, the elevator compartment was abruptly engulfed with loud noises of clattering and talking as cadets, SOLDIERS and officers alike ate, their vigorous voices booming through out the extremely wide room.

Cloud's sapphire eyes gazed slowly through out the room, narrowing in disgust as they fell on several of the men present.

The army needed women. _Desperately_.

Army men were _pigs_.

Scratch that… _men _were pigs.

The two short teens made for the line at the food counter quietly, each picking up a plastic plate and praying that the food would be better than the day before. Squads were usually smart enough to assign their best men to the kitchens, but sometimes it couldn't be helped; all of them were incompetent at the task. So far that week, the Squad allocated to Cafeteria duties could have been considered as much.

Cloud's eyes widened gratefully, almost _glowing_ with happiness as they fell on today's menu.

_Hot Dogs_.

So there _was_ a God, after all. His stomach would today be spared of any indigestion.

As he quickly grabbed for five of them, he furiously wondered why the _hell_ those retards had taken so long to understand that they didn't actually _need_ to cook complex meals as long as they delivered _edible_ substances.

And people wondered why _he _was so thin.

He glared defiantly at the food clerk, _daring_ the bastard to even _say_ anything about the number of hotdogs he had taken. He had lost all the food reserves in his system and there was no _way_ he was going to let himself starve any longer.

After taking something to drink, he followed his friend to one of the few remaining unoccupied tables. He nearly ravished his plate, eating each of the hotdogs in one bite and swallow.

Soldiers _were_ pigs… when had he ever said _he_ wasn't one of them too?

He paid no attention to Hiroki's disgusted objections as he finished his meal and downed his beverage in a very similar way than his food. Sighing contentedly as he rubbed his flat belly, he grinned at his friend when the Wutainese pushed away his plate, grimacing.

"Thanks for ruining my _meal_, man," he grumbled, glaring viciously at him.

"Stop whining like a freaking girl, you damn _poof_!" Cloud countered teasingly. He burst into loud chuckles as the older boy's face flushed deeply with anger. He could almost see the smoke rushing out of his ears. Resting his elbow against the table, he laid his chin against his palm, staring off in the distance as he tuned off Hiroki's tantrum. He was always quite touchy with the 'homosexual' subject.

He had almost completely blocked the rest of the world out, escaping far in the dark depths of his mind when something suddenly pulled him out of his reveries.

His azure eyes widened in awe as they fell to the large sword strapped onto a man's back, just as he passed their table.

The weapon was _huge_. The black, spiky haired trooper was of slightly more than average height and built, and even then, the blade was at least as wide as half of the man's torso and its length reached down to the back of his knees. It must have weighted at least 200 pounds! Cloud never would have thought it possible for someone to handle such a weapon.

"Hiro, shut up…" Cloud snapped, still staring at the man as he stopped at a table of other troopers– a rank higher than cadet but lower than that of SOLDIER and was considered enough to be part of Shinra's military force – several tables ahead of them, grinning goofily. The man began talking loudly, hands gesturing wildly as he surely boasted about one of his _incredible_ exploits to the others. The other men burst out in loud laughter and then erupted in cheers at the black, wild, spiky haired man threw his arms in the air and finally sat down to begin his meal.

Cloud narrowed his eyes disdainfully at him and then eyed the large sword still strapped behind the man's back.

Hiroki was staring at him impatiently as he finally glanced back towards him.

"Who's that guy?" the spiky haired blond asked, nodding towards the black haired man several feet away.

Hiroki frowned in confusion, turning around once more. He glanced back and forth through the crowd then sharply turned back to face his friend. "Unless you haven't noticed, _Strife_, there are _a lot_ of _guys_ around here,"

Cloud rolled his eyes impatiently. "That guy, with the huge sword and spiky black hair…" he pointed discretely towards the man in question.

Hiroki looked where his friend was pointing. His eyes widened in recognition.

"Oh! That's C. Squad Nine's leader, Sgt Charon," he exclaimed, matter of factly. "Don't tell me you've never heard of _Zack Charon_?"

Cloud glowered. "Unlike a certain _girly_ someone, I don't waste my time listening to _gossip_."

Hiroki stood up quickly enough to punch him behind the head and sit back down. "I may not be a fighter, but at least _I'm_ good at gathering info," he argued viciously. "That guy has been here for only 7 months and has already become a fully trained trooper and Squad Leader. I heard he's one of the most promising recruits Shinra Military Department ever had to train. His sword might be huge, but he's known to be extremely quick and skilled at any kind of combat. Rumors say that he rarely resorts to violence, though; he doesn't like it."

Cloud frowned in confusion. One of the most promising recruits, and yet the guy didn't even _enjoy_ fighting? What, did he expect to win wars by _hugging_ everyone to death?

His eyes again slipped back to the man, now known as Zack Charon. He observed him closely.

Zack's almost childish blue gaze sparkled animatedly as he continued to talk with his co-workers. His raven spikes fell in his back, down just below his shoulder blades. The goofy grin seemed to never leave his face. Blinking, the man slowly averted his eyes away from his companions, searching around him until they finally fell on Cloud, grin now gone to be replaced by an expression of curious confusion.

The spiky haired blond flinched as their gazes met.

The Sergeant's grin instantly re-appeared.

And the idiot actually _waved_ at Cloud. The young cadet abruptly averted his gaze away from him.

"Some even compare him to a teddy bear. He doesn't act it; but he's very dangerous on the battle field."

Cloud's attention was abruptly pulled back to his friend as he heard Hiroki's words.

"I doubt someone with _that_ kind of dumb expression could ever be _dangerous_," the doubtful teen sniggered.

"And I suppose people invented all this about him from scratch? Even though he's only in charge of a Cadet Squad, an 18 year old guy wouldn't rise up to the position of Sergeant in 5 months if he hadn't done lots of ass-kicking."

Glaring, Cloud's gaze again fell on the black haired man, several meters away, just as he stood up from his seat. He turned around, about to leave. Cloud's eyes were instantly fixed upon the remarkable weapon in the sheath attached to the man's back. His eyes softened longingly as he stared at it.

"Did you choose which weapon you wanted to train with?" Cloud asked his friend dreamily, unable to remove his gaze from the weapon, even as the Sergeant walked towards the exit of the room.

"We don't start specializing in any weapons before our 3rd month in the academy…" the Wutainese reminded him.

"Yeah…" Cloud whispered. He suddenly felt a new wave of determination hitting him full force. He wanted to use a sword just as powerful as this one. He was going to wield one. He would need to gain an incredible strength just to be able to _hold_ it, but he didn't care.

"I want to specialize in swords," Cloud said firmly, staring back at his friend. The almond shaped boy snorted.

"Freakin' Sephiroth wanna-bes…" he shook his head in despair, standing up from his seat.

Cloud flipped him off, forcing down the heat from spreading across his cheeks.

-------------

TBC

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**_Author's note :_** _Ooookay... so how'd y'all like it? (saying y'all is fun... and no I don't come from Texas) I hope you enjoyed, because I sure as hell love this baby. Pleeeeeeeeease review? I really don't want to have to stash this away... –sobs-_

_I got the inspiration to write this after seeing all the trailers from FFVII: Advent Children. MY GAWD! Aren't you people so EAGER to see that movie? IT'S GONNA FUCKIN' ROOOOOOCK! Oh yeah!_

_Anyways... please tell me what you think of my story... I'm waiting for your comments!_

_By the way, Zack's last name is property of **Empress Konitsu**! She let me borrow the name she found. Where it comes from, is kinda ironic really… I don't exactly remember from which mythology it is, but Charon was the guy who brought the souls of the dead in the river Styx… and Zack's dead… so yeah… anyways, thank you lots Empress **Konitsu**._

_Love ya!_


	2. Rat's nest

_**Comments:**_

_Wow! I_'_m so happy you people responded to the fic so well! You guys rock!_

_So I_'_ve_ _decided to assure myself that I_'_ll_ _update as frequently as possible, I_'_ve_ _decided that I would write and post only on Thursdays or Fridays, so expect to see new chapters on those days._

_**Miss Maniac: **I_'_m glad you enjoyed it! Zack will have a part to play in this story, because from what we saw in the game, Cloud and he seemed like good friends. He won_'_t be playing match maker for Cloud and Sephiroth_… _no way. I don_'_t even intend on making Sephiroth and Zack super buds, like many others have done. Sephiroth just doesn_'_t seem to me like the kind of guy who keeps a lot of friends around, even one as friendly and cute as Zack. So they will know each other, and Cloud will probably get to meet Sephiroth face to face indirectly by Zack_'_s doing, but not because he had planned it. I dunno if you understand anything of what I_'_ve_ _said but_… _uh_… _hope you like the new chap!_

_**Shikashinigami: **Thank you soooo much! That is so nice of you! hugs_

**_Hikarienzeru_** _To tell you the truth, I_'_m not even sure of what_'_s going to happen considering Cloud_'_s strength_… _he will understand what is wrong with him and what keeps him from freezing up. I can_'_t say he_'_ll_ _become mega powerful, because however AU this story might be in some ways (because I don_'_t think the creators of FFVII ever intended Seph and Cloud to shag, no matter how sexy they are together) it_'_ll_ _still stay true to the game_… _so in a way, this won_'_t have a happy ending_… _but I hate sad endings_… _so I_'_ll_ _probably do a sequel when we_'_ve_ _come past the point Sephiroth went crazy. Thanks so much for your wonderful review! You rock!_

**_Tatsukitty_** _Thanks so much! Won_'_t be long now til AC_… _Sept 13th! WOOHOO!! If you want that link, I reposted it on my first chapter_…

_**Risanda-Aniki: **MWAHAHAHAHA! Yes, maybe I SHOULD have added _"_insanity_" _to the warnings_… _Cloud_'_s life is a boisterous lad, ain_'_t he? Gotta love his attitude_… _but you_'_ll_ _see that this kinda attitude WILL bring him bad luck in the long run_… _enjoy this new chap!_

**_cRoZx_** _**aNgeL: **Thanks so much for your support! I needed it!_

_Alright, now, I didn_'_t leave you any comments but thank you soooo much to **Cheley, elirian19, RuByMoOn17, Kohaku-Yuuga**_'_**s-rembrance, SiriusMoonPuppy, Darkmaster2, CHELLE (hugs), Shui-Wing **and **Yukiyoshi** for their reviews. I appreciate it so much! I hope you_'_ll_ _all enjoy this new chapter!_

_HERE WE GO! _

**Chapter** **2**

**Rat**'**s nest**

Not for the first time since his arrival in Midgar, Cloud, feeling extremely irritated, wondered why in all the Nine _Hells_ he'd _ever _decided to join the Shinra Military Department. During the entire weekend - which for _once_ had passed extremely quickly through his immense boredom - he had dreaded this moment. He _knew_ he would hate the experience, _Hiro_ had warned him it would be pure torture; Hiroki Mura whom was usually an unstoppable _optimist_…

Cloud tugged violently on the bothersome object in his hands at the thought, trying in vain to flatten it over his hair.

… But at least _he_ hadn't needed to undergo a merciless battle against his own _hairnet_!

Growling furiously as he pulled harder at the thin net in another attempt to successfully make it fit over his entire wild mane of blond spikes, he mentally began shouting a loud trail of violent curses at his family heritage. Why couldn't he have inherited thin, straight hair like Hiroki, instead of this dreaded, spiky… _RAT_'_S NEST_!

Groaning as the thin material gave way under the pressure of his forceful tugs, he glared at his blurry reflection in one of kitchen's the metal fridges. He pulled the torn hairnet and threw it to the floor, stomping on it angrily. He'd always liked his uncommon, natural spikes; they defined him from everyone else and he liked it best that way because he _was_ different, but for once… just _once_… couldn't he have been spared the agony of these unbearable _bullshit _obligations?

Cafeteria duties had begun this morning. Not _only_ had he been forced to wake up two hours earlier than on usual week-days – at 4 am – but the rest of his Squad had all opted him as one of the food clerks, and who was the Squad Leader to refuse such an opportunity that was watching Cloud Strife – who was somewhat of an anti-social person by nature - entertain the rest of the Military Department while sporting a _hair net_… _and_ an apron?

"Fuckin' asshole… _that_'_s_ what he is…" Cloud grumbled quietly, glaring sulkily, watching the blurry reflected images move on the metal of the fridge's door in front of him as members of his Squad passed behind him, getting ready to start their cooking duties.

"Hey, Strife!" he recognized the Squad Leader's (Rick Miles) voice coming from a few feet behind him. He turned around to face him just in time to see a small ball of something being thrown his way. He reflexively reached a hand out to grab it and glanced down at his opened palm.

A folded hairnet.

_Another _hairnet.

Cloud glared up at the tall man (compared to him), receiving a firmer one in return. Cloud did not miss the soft smirk on the man's lips, nor the scornful glint in his dark eyes.

"Get to work, _Cadet_!" the young man ordered, not even bothering to hide the mockery in his tone.

Restraining his fury, the short teen turned around and pulled the net over his spikes. He only renewed his pointless struggles against his hair a few more seconds before savagely tearing a hole on the top of the net to let the largest one of his spikes through it. He pushed the stray lock which fell to his chin on the right side of his face and placed it inside the net. He then tried to tame the short, spiky locks of his pony tail, and forced them underneath the net, but no such luck. Several blond locks stuck out in many different places and directions, but it was the best he could do. To hell with procedures, the rest of the Department could _eat_ his freaking hairs for all he cared.

Let them _choke_ on them _too_ while they were at it.

He didn't even _dare_ glance back at his blurry reflection this time… and by the low whistles and overly loud cat calls he received when all the Squad members turned towards him as he stomped his way towards the front of the kitchen, to the food counter, he was pretty _DAMN _certain he looked like a total fool.

Ignoring all the mock cheering and hiding any traces of his deep embarrassment from spreading across his cheeks as best as he could, he finally stopped behind the counter, waiting for the food to be prepared and displayed in its rightful place so he could _finally_ get this bothersome job over with… and get on with the next _week_ of misery.

Maybe he _should_ have at least accepted to get his pony tail trimmed when he first joined. He was fooling himself thinking that he could ever get his hair looking like Sephiroth's… not that he actually _wanted_ it to look like it. He'd just always been too lazy to cut it, so _obviously_ it had grown enough to tie it in his back. He hadn't purposely let it grow… of course not!

He forced back the memory of the conversation with Tifa he had had about that subject a few months ago, before leaving Nibelheim.

**_Tifa_**…

Her warm, burgundy eyes suddenly filled his mind, soothing his anger. He wondered if she was doing alright. She would probably crack herself up to a heart attack if she saw him like this.

Cloud grinned goofily.

He frowned, shaking his head forcefully. This wasn't the time to be thinking about home. He wasn't a _kid _anymore!

Quickly, he shot a nervous glance over his shoulder, assuring himself that no member of the Squad had noticed the slip in of his rebellious façade.

He was relieved as he noticed that all of them were too occupied, hurriedly working on the breakfast, slicing, dicing and mixing the needed ingredients for whatever it is they were preparing as they all followed Sgt Miles' shouted instructions.

Sighing, Cloud bent himself over the counter lazily, resting his elbows against its surface and his chin against his raised palms. He kept an eye over his shoulder; his position was a compromising one and he knew that some of his fellow cadets would take up on the chance of kicking his behind just to make him fall face first against the counter. He wasn't paranoid really; he just knew what they were all capable of, even under the Squad Leader's supervision.

Hell, Sgt Miles would probably be the one to 'accidentally' deliver the blow.

Assured of his safety, he waited patiently, quietly watching the wide room before him as it slowly filled with people. Mostly Cadets had arrived when some of the members of his Squad brought breakfast in the food servers.

He pushed himself off the counter and allowed better access to the heating food trays.

A line finally began forming on the other side of the counter and he served every presented plate, listening to everyone's request as effectively and quickly as he could, all the while ignoring the amused stares and the shared derisive whispers. He barely glanced up higher than the food he was serving, determined not to see the provoking ogles and let them infuriate him any further.

Before he knew it, his body had set itself on auto-pilot and he found himself dazing off, without needing to fear of any slips or accidents. He had successfully blocked everything else from his mind when a sudden, loud, cheerful voice abruptly pulled him away from his thoughts.

Blinking, he glanced up from the food servings and into two, cheerful, dark-blue eyes. He stared at the man standing motionless before him on the other side of the counter. He was grinning down happily at him. He recognized him instantly as his eyes finally registered exactly what he was seeing. Black, spiky hair; large, powerful sword strapped behind his back.

Sgt. Zack Charon, Leader of C. Squad Nine.

Holy Shit.

Had he _spoken_ to **_him_**?

Frowning in confusion, Cloud blinked again. The people in line might just start complaining if he didn't move soon. He could already hear them beginning to whisper with each other.

Ignoring his mind which was screaming at him to respond – to what, he didn't know; he wasn't even sure the man _had_ spoken to him – he instead just glanced back down at the food, picked up the large spoon and put eggs into the man's plate, determined not to look back up at him, no matter how much he wanted to look at the sword in his back.

"Having a bad hair day?" Sgt Charon's soft, yet low voice then said, in a friendly tone.

Cloud cringed, blue eyes looking up at the man, narrowing in suspicion. What the fuck was his problem? Couldn't he just leave him alone? Everyone up until now had slipped their amusement towards his appearance indirectly at him. How dare the bastard mock him so openly? So he thought this was funny, huh? He wanted to him a great big laugh?

"What's it to _you_?" Cloud spat, stalling his spoon hand as he lowered it to pick up some other food which he hadn't even bothered to determine.

The raven haired man's smile widened. "Oh, nothing I guess… just remembered how _I_ went through hell whenever I tried putting a net on, too, when I was still at the academy," Zack chuckled, receiving a darker glare from the spiky haired blond.

"If you ever need tips, tell me, huh?" Zack winked at him, chuckling louder this time.

It was all Cloud needed to explode. He had enough of being the day's big joke. He was utterly furious of being shamed so openly. The members of the Military Department had never been very nice towards him, but _this _was the limit. He almost felt a vein pop inside his head. He saw red, his blue eyes igniting with fury. He plunged his spoon in the last tray, took it over Zack's plate and shoved it down violently, causing his entire tray to jerk over to the side, falling down to the floor and all over the man's front.

Zack gasped as the heat of his meal poured in through his slacks, taking a step back.

"Dude!" he whined almost childishly. "Watch it! That's hot!"

But Cloud paid no attention to his complaints as he threw the spoon to the floor and stomped back inside the kitchen angrily, ignoring the loudly yelled objections of the hungry Soldiers waiting in line, and his Sergeant's angry voice as he ordered him to come back.

He was getting the _fuck_ out of here.

He _hated_ cafeteria duties.

* * *

Of course, his little display hadn't been the wisest of decisions, but that only registered to Cloud _after_ he strolled away from the Cafeteria and started to cool off. 

And then reality dawned upon him like a large pile of bricks crashing into his skull.

Before he could even say "fuck", Sgt Miles' wrath had already been set upon him and he had found himself mopping the floors, wiping off grease from the cafeteria kitchen counters _and_ washing dishes for the rest of the day, _alone_, between meal hours. He was then confined to his room – not that he minded _that_; what else _was_ there to do.

He was quite thankful that Hiroki didn't come for a visit after class… and that he hadn't actually _been_ to class that day, either. Acting like a house maid was nothing compared to everyone's scornful comments – and he had suffered more than enough of his share of _those_ every now and then whenever he passed through the kitchen to wait outside the cafeteria until meals were over; he could only begin to imagine what it would have been if he _had_ attended classes.

And so here he was, resting on his bed again, thinking about how much his life sucked even _more_ than it usually did.

But somehow, even though everything was going from bad to worst, his room mate had yet to make himself known. Cloud hadn't seen him ever since dinner, in the Cafeteria; not that he minded, much - but somehow, the fact that he was being allowed a moment's peace in this God Forsaken day, seemed _way_ too good to be true.

Holding his breath, Cloud waited for Hell to break loose.

It never did.

And he was starting to feel light headed from oxygen loss.

So he exhaled loudly, heaving in harshly and deeply for the much needed air.

He waited in silence several more minutes, gazing back and forth across his room. Everything was drowned in shadows; there weren't any windows and he'd preferred to keep the lights turned off. Darkness was where he was most comfortable.

Sighing contentedly, Cloud sat up and stretched. He had been laying down for such long time that all of his muscles felt numb. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed the digital clock's red numbers glaring brightly through the shadows, where it rested on his night desk, at the foot of his bed.

_12:33 am_

The corridors would probably be deserted at this time of night.

Cloud smirked, feeling the light weight of the gym key card inside the secret pocket of his cadet uniform.

No rules had ever been officially established about curfew. Cloud believed that the only rule that should have been clear to all cadets was that whether or not they had slept enough, they were all expected to haul their asses out of bed at 6 a.m. every week-day… or else…

It would seem that he might just find out what this "or else" was tomorrow…

Without giving it as much as another thought, Cloud changed into his training garments. He grabbed a short towel from the bathroom and exited his dorm. Even though there weren't any curfew rules of which he was aware, the thought of the stolen key card bore through his mind as reminder of caution and so he made his way down the corridors and towards the elevator, making sure to stop at every corner, inspecting his surroundings before walking any further. Bill might not have come back to his room, but he would eventually show up; Cloud sure as hell hoped he wasn't there, in his training clothes, when he did.

Bill had been very clear in his warning.

When he finally _safely_ reached the elevator, he quickly entered the compartment and punched the "15" button, waiting patiently for the door to open once more. He'd never been to the private gym before and he could feel the excitement starting to bubble inside his stomach. In his month at the academy, he'd become slightly fitter, but he was still of diminutive built by all means. If he ever wanted to become stronger, he needed more training and what he received in class just didn't cut it.

At the soft dinging noise, the elevator doors swished open upon a metal corridor, similar to all the ones on the other floors of the building; you'd think the richest company in the world would have a been more original with its architecture.

The corridor was extremely dark; the only source of light a soft reddish glow. No sound could be heard. Sort of creepy, really. Cloud forced down a gulp. He began walking, ignoring his irrational emotions.

It took him only a few seconds to find the place he was looking for as he walked in the empty corridor, which was slightly different than the others after all; there weren't any doors on each sides of the hall. Cloud finally found the source of light; a red globe, placed above a large metal, double-doorway.

This was without a doubt the entrance to the gym since he hadn't seen any other doors. He spotted the key-slot and slid his key-card inside.

He jumped, startled at the loud, heavy noise the doors caused as they slid open.

Sighing loudly, he hesitated and finally strode inside, slowly, jumping nervously once again when the doors closed behind him. He could almost hear his heart pounding in his ears. He needed to stop being such a sissy; this was definitely not looking good for his health.

His eyes widened at the sight of the large, lightened room. There were definitely more exercise machines here than at the Private Academy Gym. He could finally become stronger; he was one step closer to his dream!

He stared back and forth, inspecting the machines before finally choosing one and moving towards it. Just as he was a few inches away from it, he felt his foot squeezing underneath something and getting stuck. Yelping, he lost his balance, almost fell over the bench press, but managed to get a hold of the bench to regain his balance and saved himself from an undoubtedly painful fall.

Cursing, he glanced down at his feet. In this angle, he couldn't see very well. The way his face was slumped down on the other side of the bench, he could only see the bars holding the bench up and scarcely his feet.

It appeared as though there was a large metal pole on the floor.

Or was it a weight?

Straightening himself of the bench to get a better view, he stood up and glanced down at his feet.

His breath hitched.

It was _the_ sword.

Sgt. Charon's sword.

"Holy _shit_…" Cloud whispered, kneeling before it, brushing his hands against the cool surface of the blade as he stared down at it, transfixed. He did not press his fingers on it, almost scared to tarnish its beauty with the weakness of his own hands.

He observed it for several moments before realisation suddenly dawned upon him.

"What the hell is it doing here?" he asked to himself. A sword didn't just walk on its own to _train_ in a gym. Unless he was stuck in some sort of weird fantasy - about swords - weren't _normal_ teenagers supposed to think about _girls_ or something?

Before he could dwell further on the subject, a swishing noise was suddenly heard from deeper in the room, to his left.

Startled, Cloud quickly glanced over his shoulder, only to find a dark haired man, dressed in a sleeveless shirt and slacks standing in the doorway. He held a towel in his hands, rubbing it roughly against his spiky, raven mane, eyes closed contentedly. The remaining droplets on his uncovered arms and neck, as well as the soaked hair showed he had probably just taken a shower.

Not that Cloud cared.

Blue eyes suddenly shot open, narrowed in alertness, as if expecting some kind of danger, but instantly softened at the sight of the short blond boy still kneeling before the sword on the floor, eyes widened in fright and embarrassment.

Zack's arms fell to his sides, his eyes widening in confusion. "Aren't you a bit late to be out here, man?" he asked in a friendly tone, smiling.

Cloud's eyes simply widened further. He was utterly, completely speechless. What was he supposed to say? He had been caught by a Squad Leader… even worst… he had been _kneeling_ before the Squad Leader's sword nearly _fawning_ over it like it was some sort of _deity_. He was so weak… so _pathetic_.

Without thinking, Cloud bounced up and rushed towards the exit.

"Hey! Wait up!" was what Cloud last heard before the heavy doors closed behind him, dashing out of the room. He blindly rushed to the elevator, punching whatever number he reached and exited the compartment once the doors opened before him.

He continued his mad rush through out the corridors, running because he did not know what else to do, running because he was tired of being in this wretched place… and perhaps running from himself because he no longer wanted to be this useless _person_.

He couldn't stand this anymore. He was weak. His life was just a pointless mess of successive failures, of unreachable and irrational dreams. He felt like screaming, like punching, destroying, hurting… even himself. He was lost, scared… furious… he wanted _out_ – of this place, of this mind… of this _body_.

Had he been in his right mind, he might have noticed the person at the end of the corridor. Had he been in his right mind, he would have remembered that he still had something which he had stolen and would have been best kept hidden. Had he been in his right mind, he would have stopped running before he collided with said person.

But Cloud had not been in his right mind, and before he could stop himself, he had violently stumbled to the ground, knocking over the body into which he had rammed against and bringing it down with him. Moaning in pain, he quickly retreated off the body, opening his eyes, only to wish he never would have.

Bill's brown eyes stared back at him furiously and behind him, four of his bullying friends stood, ready to pounce if their leader indicated any sign of hostility towards the short blond youth who had dared cause his fall.

Bill stood up angrily, staring down at the still kneeling Cloud.

"What the fuck are you doin' here, Short-ass?" Bill demanded.

Cloud reminded himself that he couldn't allow anyone to talk to him this way. "None of _your_ fuckin' business!" the spiky haired youth spat back, bolting up to his feet, proudly.

Bill stopped talking, eyes roaming up and down Cloud's body, inspecting.

"Why are you wearing training clothes?" he asked suspiciously.

Cloud felt his body grow cold. He couldn't respond. What _could_ he answer? He was fucked anyway… there was no way out of _this_ one. Defiantly, he chose to remain silent, eyeing the brute with disgust.

"You have my card, don't you? You've been hidin' it all this time, haven't you?" he raged, louder and louder.

Cloud simply smirked, urging him on. "I would have expected even someone as _slow_ as you to figure it out before now…"

"You little _fuck!_" and the first blow came, right across left cheek bone, burning, digging inside his skin and resonating inside his skull. He felt a rush of adrenaline pumping through his veins, blinding, drowning him into darkness. He felt his limbs flailing, fighting back savagely for every hit he received, each more powerful and painful than the others. He felt warmth – liquid - pouring down his skin over several areas of his body, felt his muscles and bones aching. Still, the darkness pulled him in, weakening him, gradually slowing his reflexes. He could feel his lungs contracting, hear his breathing become more and more labored, but he would not relent, no matter how much it hurt, no matter how intense the agony. He wouldn't allow these bastards to win over him, no matter how badly he was failing, no matter how violently they broke his body; they wouldn't break his mind.

Just when he knew the darkness would pull him in for good, as the blows continued to assault his already wrecked body, he heard a loud, furious shout. The blows suddenly stalled. He felt his body fall to the floor limply, causing a strained groan to escape his lips. He heard voices above him, one loud and stern; the others nervous and stuttering. He couldn't comprehend anything that was happening. He could only relish to the fact that the blows had stopped. The metal underneath him was cool, soothing. He sighed harshly, finally allowing his eyes to close.

He felt several steps, more than heard them, as they resonated against the iron floor. He felt them rushing away quickly. Then calm, slow steps approached him and he felt someone kneeling besides him. He flinched, hissing in pain at a pressure against his shoulder. The touch, meant as a friendly, comforting gesture had instead been hurtful.

Yeah, he was definitely fucked.

"What's your name?" came the soft baritone above him.

Cloud opened his eyes, straining to flex the usually easy muscles to open. He felt fat, heavy, like his entire body had inflated in some sort of humongous balloon. And he just so fucking _hurt_.

"W-What," Cloud rasped, breathing deeply to regain his breath "… k-kind… of fuckin'… q-question is… t-that…?"

Through his heavy lidded eyes, Cloud was able to distinguish, with much difficulty, Zack Charon's head, hovering over his, staring down at him as he smiled sheepishly.

"Well… I guess I never had the time to ask you… thought it'd be a good time, right about now, y'know?" he answered, grinning apologetically.

If Cloud hadn't felt like he'd been run over by a horde of mad boars (which really, in a way, he had), he might have laughed. This guy was seriously retarded. Instead, Cloud remained silent, closing his eyes, because he couldn't bear to leave them open any longer. Man, this was going to hurt like a _bitch_ for a loooooooong while.

"So… what is it?" Zack asked after a long pause.

"I-Isn't it… o-obvious?" Cloud whispered hoarsely.

Zack blinked down at him, blinking in confusion, until finally he chuckled embarrassedly. "No, I didn't mean your condition… your name, man… _sheesh_, I may be dumb but not _that_ much…" he rubbed the back of his head, frowning.

_Says who?_ Cloud mentally mocked.

"C-Cloud… S-Strife…"

"I'm Zack Charon… uh… I'd shake your hand, but you'd probably kill me for it…" he laughed again, apparently attempting to lighten the mood, and obviously not succeeding.

Cloud managed to open his eyes slightly again, only to glare up at the man. He must have seemed very threatening indeed at that moment.

"Hey, I really don't want to hurt you, Cloud… but I'll have to carry you out of here and up to my quarters," Zack said, frowning sadly.

"W-What for…?"Cloud groaned, obviously not liking the idea even in such a beaten state.

"What for? And people say _I__'__m_ slow…" Zack suddenly pushed a hand against Cloud's abdomen to emphasise his point. Cloud drew sharp, painful breath, feeling a vivid burn run through the muscles of his torso.

"You're a mess… we need to patch you up a bit… and from what I've learnt about you so far, I doubt you'll want to head up to the infirmary." Zack quickly passed an arm behind Cloud's shoulders and lifted him in a sitting position, causing the boy to breathe in sharply as he forced down a pained groan.

"L-Leave me alone…" Cloud breathed, still aching by his body's previous sudden movement. "I can… t-take care of myself…"

Zack quickly pushed an arm underneath Cloud's knees and pulled him up a bit more roughly than he should have needed to. The throbbing he caused Cloud's body leaved him unable to hold back a shout this time. The boy just wouldn't listen any other way.

"Sure, you can… that's why I'm helping you…" Zack mocked cheerfully, smiling down at his "patient".

Cloud once again felt ashamed of himself. He was being _held_, moved around like some _woman_ in distress… even worst, the man didn't even seem to be breaking a _sweat_. Was he _that_ thin? Was he so short, so _small_, than even an average built person like Zack could move him around without even showing any _sign_ of strain or fatigue?

Zack walked through the corridors, carrying Cloud for several moments. They took the elevator back down to a lower floor, which Cloud didn't bother to look the number of, until finally, when Cloud opened his eyes again he noticed they were passing through some sort of high, windowed bridge.

"We're g-going… to the…" Cloud stuttered, feeling his body weakening having strained to stay awake all this time, in his physical condition.

"We're heading off to the Bunker, yeah. Sorry your first time out of the Academy has to be in this situation, man," he smiled regretfully at Cloud. "Tell you what; I'll let you come back in after you're better. I was so glad when I moved out of the Academy, you know? I don't want you to be like, traumatized… have bad memories of this building, or whatever. This place is way better than that cramped place…"

Zack continued to babble on for a long moment and at some point, Cloud simply shut his voice out. He felt sleep claiming him and he gladly embraced it. Anything was better than this pointless babble.

--------------------

TBC

--------------------

**_Author_****_'_****_s note:_** _Poor Cloud__…__ when will he ever learn? _

_And so__…__ perhaps a new friendship will begin? But Zack__'__s fooling himself if he thinks that by saving Cloud__'__s ass from a major beating, he__'__ll stop him from being so rude and cold towards him. Cloud still holds bitter feelings towards the world and is still very defensive towards everyone because of the life he__'__s always held. _

_Wonder what will happen indeed when he wakes up._

_Oh, and should I point out that there will be NO Zack/Cloud moments in this story, whatsoever__…__ probably__…_

_Later!_

_Please review!_


	3. The wonders of bed rest

**_Comments:_** _Huuuuuuullo everyone!_

_First of all, I'd like to begin by saying that I am a bad, bad author… yes, very bad indeed. I was supposed to update last week and I didn't… but I had good reasons! The Nephew from Hell took me hostage and did allow me to sleep more than 3 hours. So you can imagine that with this torture, my mind was NOT fit for writing. And then, I needed to save all the stuff I had on my hard drives on DVDs because I bought myself a new comp and needed to format before transferring them onto the new thing._

_My new computer rocks by the way. I absolutely love it. And I'll be getting a lovely flat screen in 2 weeks… not just **flat**_… _but also thin and **BLACK**_… _mwahahaha!_

_But anyways…_ _I'm here now… I've the new chapter for you guys… you can all be happy and praise me now._

_ON YOUR KNEES! _

_BOW DOWN BEFORE THE MASTER! _

_MWAHAHAHA!_

_Okay… I'll stop now… see what new computers can do to you?_

_Anyways… before I leave you all ickle messages like you so wonderfully deserve, I'd like to dedicate this chap to **Shiri**_ _**Matakami**. She has just discovered my fic yesterday, and was simply wonderful to me with her understanding of what I am trying to do with this fic. Thank you so much dear, for your wonderful reviews and support!_

**_Blue Baroness:_** _Thank you so much! Cookies for you! I'm so glad that someone agrees with me about Cloud's personality! I mean, did the guy EVER seem like a fragile, innocent naïve girly UKE in the game? I mean, okay, his mind was fucked and that part of him might have been fragile, but he was never GIRLY! Why the fuck would he have become a spluttering, stuttering girly wreck because he was younger? All because of Sephiroth's influence? I don THINK soooo! So anyways… Thank you so much for your review! Please keep reading, I hope you like this new chapter as much as you enjoyed the two first ones. BY THE WAY! Sephiroth never showed up on Cloud's first day at Caf. Duties. This was his first day, and Cloud was just thinking that with his luck, General Sephiroth would probably come down do the Cafeteria duties even though he NEVER came down to eat there… thought I should clarify _

_**TatsuKitty: **Cloud is yummy indeedy! Don't worry, girl… there will be plenty yaoiness… eventually. You gotta know that I'm going to make you wait for it though. I don't write yaoi unless it's got a founded plot… and you DEFINITELY need plotting when Sephiroth's involved… I mean… this is SEPHIROTH we're talking about; the sly, sly General that IS a Sex God, but a very picky one. Someone needs to tweak his attention and THAT is NOT easily done. I've read the new HP book, yes…SPPPPOOOOIIIILLLEEERRR! **HE **IS **NOT**_ _EVIL! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT! HE'S MY BABY… NO… MY BABY CAN'T BE EVIL… -SOBS-_

_**Elirian19: **He IS cute, in't he? I really like him… I dunno if I portrayed him correctly, 'cause he just had like, 2 minutes of screenplay and I doubt anyone has gotten his personality correctly… but I'd like to think that he's this way. Thanks for your wonderful review! Hope you like this new chap!_

_**Risanda-Aniki: **I really like Zack/Cloud brotherly relationship myself. I don't enjoy reading about them shagging it off. Cloud's not's just a piece of ass everyone could get a pass at and I don't really see Zack as gay dude… I mean, it would be very hot, because HE'S hot and ANY two hot gay men are hot together… but… yeah… there will be no Zack/Cloud action in this fic… at least… not really. And absolutely NO Seph/Zack action… or Seph/Cloud/Zack… although that would be hot… but perhaps a fiction of MY fiction? Tee hee… anyways… Thank you about the title… I really love it to. I surprise myself with the things I come up sometime. At first, it came from a joke I made with someone and it actually stayed. This fic isn't going to be a very dramatic one, at least, not until the end, so, the title felt good. You know, when I first saw you pen-name, I thought you'd written "aniki" and I was all… wtf? She's WHO'S older brother! Enjoy the new chap dear… thanks for the wonderful review!_

_**Chelle: **You are awesome as ever, darlin'. I do so enjoy talking and brainstorming with you as well –hugs- you rock, babay!_

**_Crozx_** **_angel:_** _I do apologize for not typing your pen name exactly the correct way, but I'm dying to finish these comments so I can UPDATE! But anyways… of COURSE Cloud's uke! I mean… Sephiroth! BOTTOM? That's like… a mortal sin or something… -shudders at the thought- but you still rock –hugs-_

_**DownRight-evil: **What DO you mean? I do think I have enough reviews, thank you P anyways, I'm glad you enjoy my ficcy… after all, who would I be if there was no one to share me world with? -glomps back- Do you watch Bleach, by the way? Because if you do… -crosses arms- SPIRITS ARE ALWAYS WIIIIIIITH YOOOOOOUAAAAH! BOOOOOOWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA! … ahem…_

_**Steven heap: **Whadya_ _mean you'll finish when the yaoi comes? Yaoi's the BEST that's to come! P_

_ALLLLLLLLLLRIGHTTYYY THEN!_

_Didn't that come from The Mask, originally?_

_Anyways…_

_HERE IT COMES BABY!_

**Chapter 3**

**The _wonders_ of bed rest**

The first thing he thought, when his consciousness finally came back from its trip to oblivion, was that he was dead. But then, of course, like any one who wakes up from unconsciousness, he was startled and jerked up… and then shouted in pain, falling back down on his back heavily as his body contorted in agony.

Every swear words imaginable suddenly echoed through his mind, cursing wildly at his own misfortune, as the memories of the last few hours came sinking down upon him.

How could he have let himself be disgraced this way? How could he have failed again?

Someday, he was going to make those fuckers _pay_ for what they did to him… if he ever got tall enough, that is.

His anger calmed slightly as it finally dawned upon him that he didn't know where the hell he was.

He was lying down on a soft, wide mattress. As he glanced around, blue eyes inspecting his surroundings, he discovered a room that _definitely _wasn't his and much too large, if not extremely so, to be a dorm room. It was wide and nicely decorated with dark wooden furniture. The walls, on the other hand, were complete opposites to the dark, almost graceful appearance of the furnishings. Several kinds of posters had been posted on them, covering almost every inch. Bands, movies, shows… the pictures diverged too widely and Cloud didn't recognize half of what were on them.

This was obviously a teenager's room… or at least, one whom still had the mental stage of one.

… and was that a Pokémon poster over there?

"Cloud?" he heard steps making their way closer to him. He turned his head, glancing at his left, just in time to see Zack move towards the bed he was laying on. He then felt a pressure on his left shoulder. He heard himself yelp in pain.

"Don't _touch_ me!" he yelled after a few seconds, once he'd regained his breath.

Zack recoiled quickly. "Sorry! I uh… sorta… _forgot_…"

Cloud blinked at him, appalled. _This_ was the guy who was going to treat him? He'd be lucky if he left this place _alive_! The idiot was probably going to put him in _worse_ shape than he already was!

Hell no… he was _not _going to enjoy the _wonders_ of bed rest for the rest of his life.

Summoning all of his remaining strength, gritting his teeth stubbornly, he began to sit up, ignoring the vivid burn coursing down through his muscles, but Zack, glaring firmly at him held him down softly by the shoulders and pushed him back down against the mattress.

"I told you not to touch me!" Cloud shouted wildly, forcing down the pain as he weakly tried to battle against the restraining hands; a pretty pointless effort when you considered the fact that he could barely move his hands and legs and Zack carried a 250 pounds sword every day.

He must have probably looked like some pathetic squirming snail at that moment.

"Will you calm down? I'm just trying to help here, man!" Zack insisted.

Cloud looked up at him, suddenly feeling his body freeze at the words.

Help? _Help?_

Did _he_ look like someone who wanted _help?_

Who was _he_ kidding?

Cloud was _nothing_ close to naïve.

"I don't need your _help_!" Cloud yelled, stubbornly, renewing his efforts to escape Zack's restraining hold.

Zack stared down at him, eyebrows raising doubtfully, an amused smile forming across his lips. He continued to stare down at him for several moments, holding him down silently, wearing the same expression.

Cloud could begin to feel his insides boil with rage. What the hell was his problem? Why was he _looking_ at him that way?

"_What!_" the blond haired youth finally snapped, more than irritated.

"You remind me of someone soooo much it's _scary_…" Zack chuckled, finally removing his hands from Cloud's shoulder and sitting beside him on the mattress.

The spiky haired boy stared at him, confused, anger suddenly vanished. He remained motionless on the mattress, feeling too puzzled to struggle any longer. This was by far the weirdest morning he had ever experienced.

Was it even morning yet?

Zack grinned down at him, watching him with strange curiosity and blew a low whistle.

"Man, you were out like a rock… I wasn't even sure if you were still _alive_ there. I wanted to wake you up, 'cause I can't patch you up while you're unconscious, but I was pretty sure you'd be grumpy… no offence, you don't really seem like a morning person." Zack grinned down knowingly at him after his last words.

Cloud glared back. The guy didn't only talk too much for his own good, but he _also_ switched subjects faster than anyone could follow. He couldn't have been stuck, injured, with a _worst_ choice of person.

Oh, _right_… he hadn't _been given _a choice.

Since his first time seeing him, Cloud had instantly felt the need for caution around Zack. The life he had held since childhood had aroused in his heart a barrier of undying suspicion. In his mind, people were not usually nice unless they wanted something else in return. He could trust the others in the establishment even less because of the way they had all acted around him since the first day he had joined… and what had happened last night proved his point entirely.

Although, he had to remind himself that he _had_ stolen something in the first place.

Smart choice _that_ had been…

But he'd never said anything about being _smart_, had he?

It had been different with Hiroki, when they had first met, because _he_ was short as well. But Zack… he was well known and respected in the Department; he was strong, envied, and he knew it. He _had_ to enjoy the attention, **_had_** to love his popularity and take advantage of it… hadn't he? After all; who in their right mind wouldn't?

Cloud had to remind himself that the chances of Zack Charon being in his right mind were very unlikely.

No matter how kind the young man seemed, Cloud had to remain cautious around Zack. People were not nice; people were selfish and used each other, by whatever means, to reach their ends.

"What do you want?" Cloud snapped distrustfully, narrowing his eyes at the dark haired man.

Zack's eyes widened, surprised, almost disbelievingly. "I thought we'd already gone through that? I want to help you… unless you'd have preferred it if I'd left your bloodied ass to rot, down there?" he chuckled, shaking his head teasingly. His cheerful smile lost some of its liveliness when he saw that Cloud was glaring up at him with as much suspicion, not laughing at the joke.

Cloud snorted derisively. "You want me to believe you're just helping me for the hell of it?"

Zack frowned, sighing. "Now, let me set something straight, Cloud. Not all of us are total assholes in the Military Department."

Cloud snorted once more.

Zack smiled bitterly. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I didn't say a lot of them aren't… just that there _are_ some good people."

Cloud raised an eyebrow, staring at his 'superior' doubtfully. "… and you're saying _you're _one of them, is that it?"

Zack shrugged. "I'd like to think so, yeah…"

Seeing Cloud's still extremely doubtful stare, Zack chuckled. "Man, you really are the same…"

Cloud frowned. There he was, comparing him to this _person _again. How annoying could he _get_?

"… as _who_?" Cloud snapped, irritated. He wasn't one for conversations, especially with cocky, vain bastards like Zack, but he was getting very annoyed of being compared to someone he didn't even know. He swore to the Planet, if it was just some other shorty, he was going to _kick his ass_… no matter how bad he'd get his ass kicked **_back_ ** for it.

Zack smiled bitterly once more. "The old me…"

The blond haired youth's jaw clenched with suppressed rage. How dare he compare _him_ to someone like **_Zack_**!

Zack laughed quietly. "Thought you might not like that… but, it's true. I used to be short like you, you know?"

Short? **_Short_**? How did _that_ have anything to do with him? How dare Zack assume they had been similar because of their _height! _ Was that the only thing he could be compared to! Was that the only thing Cloud could be described as!

Oh, he was going to _kill_ him.

Cloud cringed with restrained fury, averting his eyes away from him, faking disinterest. Zack seemingly wanted to renew his efforts as he noticed the boy's look. He took a deep breath and started over.

"I used to be short, mistrustful, rebellious and violent. I lived in this town called Gongaga. I got roughed up a lot over there because of what I looked like - spiky hair, short ass - but then I decided I wouldn't let any of those bastards affect me anymore. I started training; I wanted to become strong and prove everyone my worth."

Something much too similar to Cloud's own ideals suddenly struck home. Slowly, Cloud turned his head and turned towards Zack curiously, narrowing his eyes. Was it possible that someone _had_ lived the same life as him? Was it possible that someone _could _understand him?

No… it couldn't be…

"I read about the Shinra Military; heard they were recruiting, but my parents weren't very rich and Gongaga's far from Midgar; it's on another continent South West of here… I needed money to go overseas. My parents wouldn't let me join before I was 17 anyways… so I waited, trained and saved money in the mean time." Zack's blue eyes suddenly glazed with compassion as he stared down at Cloud. "I'll admit I was luckier than you, in a way, because by the time I joined, I had time to grow up and train… so people didn't really look down on me … but you gotta believe me when I tell you that I _sure_ as **_hell_** know what you're going through; I've lived through it my whole life, man…"

The compassion and understanding was so genuinely intense in his eyes that Cloud couldn't even doubt the truth in his words for a single moment. Zack was one of those people who openly divulged their emotions for everyone to see, no matter how hard they tried to hide them. Cloud had probably known that fact from the very beginning and had simply chosen to ignore it; it was easier to reject than trust; to trust meant that some day, that trust might be broken. Cloud did not forgive easily and he did _not_ want to risk being hurt, no matter how hard he attempted to convince others and even himself that he _couldn't _be affected by anyone.

Zack had still saved him from the beating and tried to help him though, earlier that day, when Cloud had been on cafeteria duties and in return, Cloud had been an ass towards him. Somehow, now that he thought about it with this new point of view, he felt slightly ashamed. He could no longer ignore the fact that someone had genuinely wanted to show kindness to him.

Seeing the sympathy in the older man's eyes only heightened his shame. Unable to face it any longer, Cloud turned his eyes away, staring at the wall in front of him.

"Well, now that we got that clear… does this mean you won't be pouring boiling stuff down my fronts anymore?" Zack asked innocently.

At the words, Cloud couldn't hold back a soft chuckle from snaking its way out of his lips. Hesitatingly, he turned his attention back to the dark haired young man, trying to keep up his annoyed façade and apparently miserably failing.

Zack grinned happily at him. "Seriously, man… that hurt… and my pants were ruined, too!"

Cloud stared away, feeling bad for his actions and despising the feeling. "I'm… sorry…" he said quietly, hating the words and yet knowing he had to say them. "I wasn't having a good day and…"

"Don't worry… I think I know what went through your head; to you, I was another one of those jocks, trying to put you through hell. Seeing me after all you've had to put up with ever since you got here was just the last straw."

Cloud remained silent. So Zack really did understand him…?

To be honest, he had probably refused to think someone _could_ be nice. Or perhaps, he had simply been jealous of Zack, in a strange, grudging way… hence the reflexive animosity towards him. The man was everything he hoped to become, and he had been able to obtain it in only several months time, although he still hadn't become a member of SOLDIER. He seemed to have achieved everything so easily, when Cloud…

Man, he was such a fucking brat!

"So… this is your room…" Cloud said awkwardly after several silent moments, trying not to sound too interested.

"Hey, be grateful I'm letting you enjoy the comforts of a _real_ mattress, which, by the way, you probably haven't had the chance to do in a _loooooooong_ time…" Zack reproached cheerfully.

Of course he hadn't, the cadets slept in _bunkers _for fuck's sake… but he wasn't going to admit _that,_ was he? He was strong; he had to show he could endure whatever obstacle came his way.

So he simply shrugged at the words in response, keeping a cool, calm expression.

Man, he must have seriously looked like he was so full of himself ; no wonder people always wanted to kick his ass.

Why the _hell _was he thinking about this _now_?

He officially hated Zack.

"How about I patch you up a little, now, huh?" Zack proposed.

Cloud _did_ feel like shit right about now so that didn't seem so bad, but his pride wouldn't allow him to acquiesce or even ask, so he simply glared at the man.

Zack nodded, smiling. "I don't have a Revive Materia, that's why I had no choice but to wait 'til you woke up. My Cure isn't all that leveled up, mind you… but it'll do. It's not recommended to use it to mend all injuries; something about lowering your self-defense mechanism and physical resistance to pain and injuries… doesn't it suck? They give you things to make life easier, but then, you can't even _use_ them properly… I swear-" and so on, Zack continued.

Cloud groaned, his head already aching from all the words. "Do you always _talk_ this much?" he scorned, thoroughly annoyed, glaring up at the man.

The dark haired man paused in his words, mouth still open as he glanced down at the younger boy, eyes wide with confusion. "Yeah… sorta…" he admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Let me disinfect your wounds, close them up with the Materia and then I'll check for broken bones…" the dark haired man stood up, rushing out of the room.

Cloud closed his eyes still refusing to accept or even acknowledge Zack's words. He wasn't even here _willingly_, after all.

Only minutes later, he suddenly yelped, eyes shooting open as he felt a sting on his skin as a cool cloth was pressed against an open wound on his arm. Zack was back beside him, cleaning his wound. Why hadn't he heard him coming back?

"I thought you'd resigned yourself to treatment, from your lack of response…" Zack grinned mischievously.

The bastard had done it on _purpose, **too**_! "Asshole…" Cloud snapped, turning his head away from him. Zack simply sniggered and continued to clean to other visible wounds on his arms.

"Dude, you'll have to take off your shirt…" Zack said in a slightly awkward tone after a few minutes.

Cloud's head abruptly turned back to face him. "_What_!"

"Hey, calm down…we're between guys, right?" Cloud did _not_ calm down. "Your shirt has a bunch of blood stains and I'm pretty sure you're injured underneath, so unless you want me to remove it _for _you, _take it off_…"

Cloud opened his mouth to argue, but grumbled instead. He wasn't ashamed of his body, really. He was short and thin, but he was fairly fit. Alright, perhaps not as fit as Zack… and you could still see a few ribs poking out here and there… but… that was all… he had nothing to be embarrassed about, really. He just… didn't enjoy being observed without a shirt.

That was a perfectly normal teenage reaction.

Slowly, he sat up, ignoring the pain it caused his body. He glared at Zack as he moved his hands to the hem of his shirt, hesitating.

Zack rolled his eyes. "What, you want me to turn around or something? I'm still gonna see you after you've taken it off. I'm the one who's gonna treat you, _remember_?"

Cloud's glare intensified. "I can do it _myself_."

Zack poked his forearm harshly, bringing another pained groan from Cloud's throat. The blond spiky haired youth shot him a deadly glower.

"Like hell you can…" Zack mocked in a friendly tone.

Angrily, Cloud tugged the hem of his shirt upwards and tore his shirt off, staring grudgingly at Zack. He then deeply regretted moving so aggressively fast because his entire body was now screaming in agony.

Without further delay, Zack began disinfecting the many cuts on Cloud's upper body, careful not to cause him too much pain. The blond haired youth ignored every sting, every burn of the disinfectant, letting no sound of complaint escaping his mouth and shutting up his pride which was yelling at him to stop Zack from taking care of him.

After several moments, the dark haired young man finally moved away from Cloud, inspecting his patient for any other wounds.

"Well, at least you won't have to remove you pants, right?" he said cheerfully at him. Cloud did not even spare him a glance and he stared down at his lap intently attempting to stop the heat from spreading across his cheeks.

"Do you have trouble breathing?" Zack asked methodically.

"Not really…" Cloud answered, forcing an emotionless tone. Zack wasn't examining his body. It was all in his head. He was not staring at it mockingly. He did _not_ have pity in his eyes.

For God's sake… he _wasn't_ self-conscious. He was _perfectly_ comfortable with his body.

"Alright, then I doubt you have any broken ribs; trust me, you'd be in a lot more pain than this." He brought a hand to Cloud's arm, pressing against it and sliding back and forth, inspecting for broken bones. He then moved it, making it bend at the elbow and shoulder and proceeded with the same inspections with his other arm. Cloud's skin and muscles ached, but he remained silent through it all. He could endure it and would surely suffer far worst injuries in the future.

"Well, you sure as hell got lucky…" Zack finally concluded, sitting beside him, hands on his knees. "No broken bones from what I can tell. You'll hurt like a bitch for a short while, but that was to be expected…" he chuckled bitterly.

Cloud rolled his eyes.

"Can I just _go_ now…?" the spiky blond haired youth grumbled.

"No way… you're in no condition to walk yet."

"But what about classes, I'm in deep shit if I don't attend and it's going to be _your _fault!" Cloud raged.

Zack raised a hand, silencing him instantly. "Don't worry, man, I've already dealt with all of that. I advised the instructors of what happened. I've also taken care of those assholes who did this to you while you were knocked out."

Cloud suddenly felt a sickening churning to his stomach. He had _dealt_ with them? He had _told_ people what **_happened_**!

"Are you _stupid_ or something?" Cloud shouted, almost hysterically. "Do you have _any_ idea what'll happen now? The entire _squad _will be on my case!"

Zack raised his hands defensively in front of him. "Let me finish!"

Cloud stared at the older man for several more moments, enraged, breathing erratically.

"I asked the Council that they be removed of the Academy," Cloud's eyes suddenly bulged, rage building once more. He was about to yell, very keen on telling the bastard exactly what he thought, but Zack raised his hands to hush him once more. "But they wouldn't allow it, saying it was just a teenage quarrel, or whatever bullshit. They didn't want to lose any good SOLDIER candidates." Zack frowned at this, obviously disgusted at the prospect.

"They've been warned by me personally… but that's it…"

Cloud stared at the dark haired man for several more minutes, furious. This was _not_ what he needed. Zack's interference had probably made things _worse_. He could only imagine what Bill had told the rest of the Squad. He dreaded the moment he would need to go back to his dorm room.

And everyone now _knew_ what had happened. He wouldn't be able to hide what a disgrace he truly was.

Cloud's shoulder slumped, defeated. Should he seriously consider leaving now? He couldn't fool himself any longer. He couldn't summon the determination anymore. Had he ever _truly_ felt it? Had it simply been nothing but a false feeling all along? A desperate hope? A _fool's_ hope? There really was no point in staying any longer. He was simply deceiving himself, thinking he would ever be able to reach his goals. He was born a failure and would forever remain one.

A gentle hand suddenly pressed against his shoulder, shaking him softly.

"I told you not to touch me…" Cloud hissed, head bowed, sounding more sad than angry like he had first planned on doing.

Zack remained silent for several moments, staring at the younger boy, dark blue eyes filled with compassion. He needed to help this kid. Four years ago, he had found his own path alone, he remembered how difficult it had been; he needed to guide Cloud in the right path, because back then, no one had been there for him. His parents, try as they might to be supportive, just hadn't understood him the way he had needed. Zack understood what it meant, what it was to be alone and he would not allow Cloud to remain on his own any longer.

He just needed to figure _how_ he could approach such a defensive, suspicious person. How could he break Cloud's barriers?

One thing was for sure… the kid was going to be one tough nut to crack.

"So… let's close those wounds, huh?" Zack cheered, extending his left arm, where he wore a dark, spiked bangle. Two slots adorned it, shining under the light where two green Materias had been inserted. Index and middle finger extended, he brought his closed right hand near his face, keeping his Materia arm extended towards Cloud, palm open. He closed his eyes in concentration and began to pray for the power of the Planet.

He felt warmth spreading inside his body, becoming more intense as energy gathered towards his left palm. The Cure Materia began to glow intensely and a green aura suddenly surrounded Cloud's body.

The blond spiky haired youth gasped, feeling a gentle tingle, almost a sting, engulf him. He stared down at his glowing body, watching as his many wounds slowly closed and the ache in his muscle was gradually soothed.

After a few seconds only, out of the corner of his eyes, Cloud saw Zack open his eyes and lower both of his hands. The green light faded little by little, leaving in its trace the weakening, strange, tingly sensation. He still felt a weak, residual ache from his many injuries but felt extremely better.

He had heard of the wonders of Materia before, but couldn't stop himself from staring down at himself, amazed. His wounds had all closed leaving soft, pink scar tissue in their place. He had been healed, but his body would still need to recover on his own. His closed wounds were still very sensitive and would probably easily reopen.

"Just like magic, isn't it?" Zack joked.

Cloud snorted. "It _is_, you dumbass…"

"Tsk, tsk… watch your tongue, Strife, I'm still your superior, ya know…" Zack warned, grin never leaving his lips.

Cloud raised an eyebrow, staring at the dark haired young man mockingly.

"Was that the first time Materia was used on you?" Zack asked, curiously.

Cloud nodded, looking away from him as his blue eyes suddenly darkened once again, seemingly lost in despairing thoughts. He looked around the room, observing his surroundings with indifference until finally, his eyes suddenly fell on something near the door, over Zack's shoulder.

It was resting against the wall and desk, light shining on it like an artifact descended from the heavens, given by the Gods.

Okay, so maybe he was dramatizing it a bit, but it sure as hell looked like it to him.

Then again, it might have been because of the Materia's reflection, shining brightly in the weapon's slot.

Zack noticed the boy's blue eyes widen as they obviously fell on something he was most interested in. He knew instantly what it was.

"So you like swords, huh?" Zack asked, smiling mischievously.

Cloud's eyes abruptly shot back at his face, as if awakened from a deep slumber… or a freakin' good day dream.

"Maybe…" Cloud snapped, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "What if I _do_?"

_**Was I ever **that **defensive?**_ Zack wondered, mentally sighing.

"Well, join the club!" he said, clapping Cloud's shoulder in a brotherly manner. Cloud, of course, shot him another one of his heated death-glares. It was getting old, really… but Zack would be better off not mentioning _that_ unless he wanted to suffer some bitch-slapping.

_**Note to self : **never **associate the term 'bitch-slapping' to Cloud Strife while in his presence.**_ Zack mentally sniggered at the reaction Cloud would most definitely have if he mentioned _that_ too.

Oh yeah, he was going to have _fun_ with this one, he just _knew_ it.

"I've noticed you watching it. They really need more swordsman in the Military… people are going all technical, using guns, these days. They soon won't even be able to _fight_, anymore," Zack shook his head. He suddenly noticed a flame coming to life in the blond's azure eyes. He hesitated for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts.

"People no longer seem to appreciate the true art of fighting… they just want to look _cool_ holding a gun. They think guns can make them powerful, when really, it's just making them weak! Swords, on the other hand, are like extensions of one's body… it's a weapon, but you still have to rely on your own strength and abilities to fight…" Cloud suddenly said with a flame, a passion Zack had never heard coming from anyone, talking about the same subject. So they were even more alike than he had believed.

"I know! It's driving me crazy! People want to train with or without weapons just to _show off_ or 'kick some ass'! There's so much more to fighting than that!" Zack continued, eyes lighting up with a similar enthusiasm than the younger boy.

"Yeah… fighting is like - it's an **_art_**… it's a way of concentrating, relaxing, expressing yourself… even communicating. You can see so much more in a person by the way they move…" As he talked, Cloud's eyes had glazed with an almost dreamy, excited look. He continued explaining his views on the subject, talking animatedly.

Zack nodded to his every word, listening intently. He had never spoken to someone as passionate as he was on the subject and it simply amazed him. At first glance, Cloud seemed like a quiet person who simply despised communicating; he appeared to be nearly anti-social really. But seeing him now, talking so vivaciously, he understood that it had all been a façade. His suspicion and disappointment in people had probably driven him to give up on even _trying_ talking with people. He didn't need to waste time when he knew nothing good could come out of a pointless conversation.

That was where he and Zack differed. The dark haired young man usually spoke to everyone about anything because he needed to feel appreciated by everybody. Was it because of his childhood, where he had been looked down upon, or any other reason, he didn't really care. _This_ was who he was.

If people didn't like 'The Babble Mouth' they could just go fuck themselves… not that he'd ever _say_ it like that. He would leave that sort of language to Cloud.

"But… I've heard that you didn't even _like_ fighting…?" Cloud asked, almost warily, after several minutes into their conversation.

Zack blinked, confused. "I guess that's what people would think, wouldn't they? I usually don't resort to violence if I don't have to, that's true… so people usually think it's because I'm a softy who despises fighting."

Cloud smirked. "You _are_ a softy…"

Zack sniffed, insulted, raising his chin. "Your point?"

Cloud's smirk widened. "A softy usually _wouldn't_ like fighting…?"

Zack suddenly pointed at him. "AH HA! That's where you're wrong, dude!"

Cloud blinked, staring strangely at the man's finger, which had been extended only an inch away from his eyes. He forced himself not to laugh at the older man's childish behavior.

"The fact that I don't like resorting to pointless violence doesn't make me a softy, nor does it prove that I don't like fighting. _Fighting_, like you said, is an _art_. I don't fight those who don't consider it as such, as well, because it's not as gratifying. Besides, the people who _don't_ consider it art _suck_ **_hairy_** **_balls_** at it… so why waste my time beating them to a bloody pulp when I know _others_ could do _for_ me?"

Cloud gaped at him laughter bubbling inside his stomach. "_What_? You're just a goddamn lazy ass!" he chuckled, unable to contain his amusement any longer.

Zack crossed his arms, pouting. He turned his head away. "I'm _so_ misunderstood…"

Cloud laughed all the more, holding his stomach, as Zack stared back at him, grinning.

To be honest, Cloud completely understood him, even though he himself enjoyed fighting no matter what. Zack _was_ a softy, who also deeply enjoyed fighting with _good_ fighters. Any other fights were pointless to him because they were like… over kill…

And… **_suck hairy balls_**!

Cloud erupted in even louder laughter. Who would have thought _those _kind of words could escape Zack's innocent mouth?

"So all in all… that's why I love swords so much, too; because even though it's a weapon, you still _use_ your body along with it. It's a totally different experience than using _guns_ for example," Zack explained. Cloud nodded, smiling genuinely, a gesture he had not made in a long time.

The blond youth suddenly glanced down, thinking of what his own ideals had been before joining Shinra Military. Zack loved swords as much as he did. Could that mean…?

"W-Why did you join the army?" he asked, staring nervously at his hands. "I mean… you wanted to become stronger… but is that… the _only_ reason…?"

Zack narrowed his eyes in thought, a finger tapping against his chin. Cloud watched him anxiously. "That was basically the only reason, yeah… why? Why did _you_ want to join?"

Cloud suddenly glanced down. "Oh… same reason really…" he answered awkwardly. "What else _could_ there be, really? Anything to get me out of Nibelheim and become stronger…" he shrugged.

Zack watched him carefully, reading all the signs in the younger boy's body expressions and tone. He suddenly smiled knowingly.

"Have you ever seen General Sephiroth _fight?"_ he began, conversationally, still smiling knowingly.

Cloud's shoulders suddenly twitched. He refused to glance up as the excitement bubbled inside his stomach. "No… not really…"

"That man is scary. I've only seen him once, during a mission. Before becoming a trooper, I was sent on a mission in Cosmo Canyon area. Something went wrong; there were a lot more monsters than we expected. They called for back-up… Sephiroth was sent to help us." Cloud suddenly glanced up, eyes wide, apparently a lot more interested now.

"The man is an army on his own. He nearly defeated more monsters than all the Cadet Squad managed… _without even breaking a sweat_," he recounted, a hint of awe tracing his tone.

Zack watched as Cloud's azure eyes suddenly came alive with an inferno, a thirst for either power or action, the dark haired man couldn't distinguish; but he'd seen a similar expression a thousand times before: hero worship.

**_Bingo!_** Zack mentally cheered. He'd met many other 'Sephiroth wannabes' in the five months he'd been here, at the Shinra Military. The others were very different than Cloud though… not to mention _thoroughly _annoying. He'd almost felt the need to ban those in _his_ Squad. In his opinion, there should have been a new question added to the list of those asked to new candidates, before they were accepted in the Department.

1. Do you idolize General Sephiroth?

2. If yes, are you ready to **_shut_** _the hell **up**_ about him?

Zack sniggered to the appalled looks he would have gotten from the Military Department Council, if he'd ever suggested such a thing.

Apparently, the hero worship was not only extremely frequent amongst Cadets. The thing was like a freakin' _epidemic…_ not that he didn't like the guy; Sephiroth _was_ an impossibly great SOLDIER. He just didn't feel the need to endlessly babble on about him.

It was kind of ironic when you considered the fact that _he_ was usually the one to babble on endlessly about anything _else._

"I went to talk to him after the battle – "

"You _talked_ to General **_Sephiroth_**!" Cloud interrupted, asking in an almost high-pitched tone. Zack rather liked his usual almost bored calmness… _a lot_ better.

"Not the most pleasant of persons, that guy…" Zack shook his head frowning.

Cloud blinked, disappointment causing his face to revert to his usual almost emotionless expression.

"I didn't like him much, honestly. He's one of the coldest, harshest, most _arrogant **bastards**_ I've ever met…"

An expression of near-horror discretely crawled its way onto Cloud's face. Zack watched him with an almost amused fascination.

"I mean… he doesn't flaunt his 'greatness' and doesn't even openly divulge his superiority – because let's be honest, the guy _is_ superior in some ways – like some others do, but…" Zack frowned thoughtfully apparently trying to find the best words to explain himself.

"He just has this paralyzing aura of… complete _control_ and _indifference_. He's very silent, barely addresses anyone and when someone _does_ speak to him, he indirectly makes you wish you _never_ had. And his eyes…" a shudder passed down the dark haired young man's body. "There's just an indescribable _iciness _in them. He looks down at you, without any reaction or emotion whatsoever. He just slowly turns his gaze towards you and you instantly feel like a tiny, pathetic insect…" he shuddered once more, his voice growing quieter with every word.

Zack explanation was so vivid in emotion and detail that a shiver passed through Cloud's body as well. How pathetic would _he_ have felt in Sephiroth's presence? He could almost imagine himself quickly shrinking before the General, feeling his body freeze as his aqua gaze chilled him on the spot.

Zack shook his head, as if trying to wake himself up from a very unpleasant dream. "Anyways…" he took a deep breath. "You can imagine that whatever I wanted to tell him sorta flew outta my mind and ran hiding somewhere far, far away. I've said it once, I'll say it again… the guy is _scary…_"

Zack suddenly chuckled happily, unpleasant memories easily forgotten. "I don't understand all those people who worship him so entirely. If you ask me, the guy's like some freaky Ice Bitch from Hell… he seriously needs to get that stick outta his ass."

Cloud gaped at him outraged. "Shut up!" he snapped at him, before he could stop himself. Zack's glance flew at him, surprised. A knowing smirk spread across his lips, causing a weak blush to spread across the blond haired youth's cheeks.

"I-I mean…" he stuttered. "It doesn't matter how he is… he's still the best SOLDIER who's ever lived. He's legend…" Cloud said quietly, staring down at his hands.

"Is that why you joined? To become like him?"

"No…!" Cloud said defensively.

Zack and Cloud stared at each other silently for several moments, until finally, the dark haired young man broke the silence, chuckling.

"Hey, man, no sweat. I really don't care why you're here. It's none of my business… and it'd be cool if we hung out sometime. I like ya, buddy," Zack slapped his shoulder firmly.

Cloud gaped at him. After the initial shock finally ebbed away, the short spiky haired youth glanced away quickly, shrugging Zack's hand off him. "Sure… whatever you want…"

Zack beamed at him. "You know…" he began, as something suddenly dawned upon him. "I know, for a fact, that the instructors haven't given you a pass for the private gym… and..."

Cloud's lips thinned, purposely looking away from Zack. There was nothing he detested _more_ than being reminded of his weaknesses.

"I think you have potential, Cloud…" Zack continued nervously.

The blond boy's eyes widened, warmth spreading into his heart.

"I want to train you…" he said more firmly.

Cloud's head shot upwards, eyes widening in disbelief as he stared at the young man before him.

"I mean… we're both swordsmen, right?"

The spiky haired teen simply gaped back at the Squad Captain. Zack cocked his head to the side, smiling amiably.

"Well?"

Cloud frowned. "I don't want to be favored… I need to do this on my own… I'm not weak!" he argued stubbornly.

"I know you're not weak, stupid! I just want to give you a chance… unless you haven't noticed, other instructors _haven't_. The odds are already turned against you, Cloud. I'm just giving you the fair chance others should have given you before me… and don't think I'll be goin' easy on you, kid."

Cloud glanced back down at his hands. A determination he had thought forever destroyed suddenly ignited inside him. He felt his strength, his will returning. His hands began twitching against his knees, anxiously gnawing at his trousers.

Could he trust Zack? Should he accept his help?

He _knew_ he was going to regret this later…

A smirk suddenly spread across his lips as he could no longer contain his glee.

"Sure… what the hell…?" he snorted, staring up at his new mentor… and perhaps even… his new friend.

Yeah… like hell _they_ would ever become friends.

A large, goofy grin spread across Zack's face as he threw his left fist in front of him, his spiked bangle looking atrociously out of place on such a cheerful person. He winked at him and gave him the thumbs up.

**_Yeah…_** **_I'm gonna regret this for sure…_** Cloud shook his head in disbelief, unable to force back a weak smile from spreading across his lips.

------------------------

TBC

------------------------

_**Author's note: **Okay… am I the only one who thought an EXCEEDINGLY large amount of dirty thoughts about Zack and Cloud's whole SWORD conversation? roflmfao_

_Oh my GAWD… I had to force myself not to write a bunch of yaoiliscious comments, back and forth between the two… I mean… come on… talking about Swords… and how much they love them… cracks up alright… I will stop now…_

_So… beside the wonderful sword loving… how'd you like it?_

_I promise we will be seeing Sephiroth soon… in all his stick-in-the-ass glory, as Zack would oh so graciously put it!_

_I will update next Friday, if everything goes well!_

_Love you all!_


	4. Weak

**Author's note:** _Okay, okay... I know what you're all going to say... "Took you long enough!" -hides under rock- I'm sorry! Truth is, I've finished this chapter for about a month and I still haven't uploaded it because... well... I don't really know, actually... I just didn't. But anyways, here it is now! Took me a loooooooong fing while... but you guys forgive me, right? I just had a lot of things going on... and then I met this guy... wonderful person... and I was swept away and felt like talking to him more than anything... you know how it goes -blushes-_

_Ahem..._

_So I want to thank everyone who reviewed ooooooooh-so-very much! I read every last one of them and loved each one of them just as much as the other. You guys rock! You're the best readers ever! Your comments mean so much to me... and I'm sorry that I don't update more often than I do... you guys deserve to get new chapters sooner. I will not promise anything, because I might... no... most probably **will** end up breaking my promise... but I will **try** to finish the new chapter faster than last time._

_I started writing each of you guys a reply on this chapter, but I finally found out that it wasn't allowed any more… so I went ahead and replied to your reviewswith the reply thingy on the site...Some of you, I couldn't reply to at all, because you hadn't left me an e-mail to reply to… so I'll just ask every one of you whodon't have an account, to at least leave me an e-mail to reply to, next time… if you want your reviews replied that is! So for now, I'll just thank **Elirian19, Hikarienzeru, HellFenix**_ _and **Nikki **for their very much appreciated reviews… and I'll answer them more thoroughly when I have e-mails to reply to :P_

_I'd also like to give special thanks to **The Demonic Duo**_ _and **Shiri** **Matakami** for helping me out with this chapter and for pointing out my errors. You have been of great help and support to me and I love you for it. I could never thank you enough! Oh and I almost forgot! Thank you again to **Shiri** **Matakami, **from whom I got the poem that you will see lower, in Sephiroth's moody thoughts… the lines belong to her! Although… I think I changed one just a bit… but anyways! Praise her!_

_I would also like to thank **Stupid Aquarius** for beta-ing this chapter… and who I will probably ask to beta as of now on! Thank you so much girl! You rock!_

_But enough of this!_

_On with the shooooooooooow!_

**Chapter 4**

**Weak**

His gaze stared straight forward as he strolled through the corridors, his face emotionless, his body the perfect impersonation of calm and control. His eyes never strayed, never moved to observe his surroundings, and yet he watched and saw everything around him, silently calculating, furtively analyzing. He saw the people looking at him with the eternal aw - the same one ever present in their eyes when he found himself in the presence of others - and saw them turn to stare at him as he crossed their paths.

He paid them no heed, as he always did, and continued on his way, his steps even and rushed yet still managing to seem perfectly measured. He never gave any indication that he even noticed any of them as they gawked and openly admired him. He never showed any sign of noting the envious, jealous and, more than often, lustful stares he received… but he distinguished them all. He remembered them all and felt them burn his skin, felt the unbearable rashes they left on his body.

In his younger years, he had, perhaps more than occasionally, become arrogant - proud even - of the recognition everyone seemed to freely cherish him with… but no longer. In time, he had grown to find them bothersome, sometimes even infuriating. Twenty-three years he had endured them; twenty-three years he had learned to ignore them. Some called him Great; some even went as far as to call him a "Master" in his abilities… perhaps had he not reached such level of greatness yet, but he had surely become a Master at the art of indifference.

He calmly pushed the elevator button as he stopped in front of it. His aqua eyes squinted as its doors slid open before him, allowing the bright rays of the sun to gradually assault his eyes through the clear glass of the elevator's walls. He paused for a moment, staring at the horizon. The entire city could be seen through the transparent glass walls of the Shinra Main Building elevator. His gaze moved slowly across the tall edifices in the distance.

_Do you really see the world in two colors?_

A sigh crept in his throat and never escaped his mouth as he entered the elevator and pressed the button of the 35th floor, where the bridge corridor between the Academy and the Bunker connected. His gaze once again turned to the horizon, gazing down at the only city he'd ever known as home: Midgar.

_Black and white?_

It took several moments until the elevator finally reached its destination, its doors finally sliding open to a large corridor where several doors could be found on both sides of the iron walls. People were bustling back and forth, in and out of doors, talking animatedly; SOLDIERs, secretaries and scientists alike, all wearing uniforms, of course. People were rarely ever seen wearing casual clothes in Shinra establishments. Several people glanced nervously at him as the elevator doors opened before him. He ignored them once more, moving out of the elevator and walking down the corridor. Several SOLDIERs saluted him, all of whom were also ignored.

_How do you see the world?_

**_What_** _do you see in the world?_

He saw the fearful admiration in their eyes, felt the uneasiness vibrating from each of their bodies and sensed with cold fascination as the greed and envy filled through some of their hearts.

_In **me**?_

He continued his walk, pace never slowing. He had business to attend to. All needed to be done as efficiently and as quickly as possible.

"General Sephiroth, sir!" an excited voice suddenly called to him.

His heavy-booted feet abruptly stopped in their pace, the sound almost echoing with a menacing sound of finality. He felt the air around him instantly grow cold and heavy as the crowd surrounding him suddenly froze, undoubtedly aware of his usual ways of dealing with people. He recognized the voice as a newly acquainted Trooper before ever letting his aqua eyes slowly gaze down his uniform. He recognized the Trooper for what he was by the enthusiasm no other usually addressed him with. No other whom had addressed him in the past ever spoke to him in a similar way more than once. They had all come to him before, all feeling as care-free and cheerful to meet him; but the first time was always the most painful, they said, and someone had to crush their foolish dreams.

He watched with silent, bitter amusement, allowing no trace of his train of thoughts to slip through his emotionless mask as the light haired youngster's body grew tense, his eyes widening with an almost fearful awe.

Sephiroth held his blank stare, gazing down at the young Trooper quietly. It wouldn't be long before he ran away now.

The silver haired General wasn't without shame about his actions, really. Whenever he aroused such terrified reactions out of people from simply turning his gaze upon them, he always felt a small twinge of guilt… but it dissipated quickly enough…

What, with that internal laughter it always brought him…

…But with the laughter always followed a sigh and an awful bitter taste inside his mouth.

The bitterness followed him, crept and latched into his soul like a parasite. It haunted his existence, every moment of his life. The people around him, the Shinra executives that made his life what it was… they were the bitterness inside him. He laughed and amused himself with the way they all seemed to act around him, but in the end, he could only remember that the cold bitterness was the only emotion which summoned such amusement.

_I see the world how it is…in Shades of Gray._

Sephiroth's blank stare never wavered.

The boy was _persistent_.

Realisation dawned upon him. Ah, so someone had sent him, this wasn't just the typical adoring fanatic.

"To what matter do you wish to address me?" he asked calmly. The coldness of his deep voice resounded even in his ears.

The boy took a step back, startled, and blinked, gulping nervously.

Sephiroth mentally sighed. Really, when would they ever stop squeaking at his every word? Why would they _ever_ assume he was inept? Yes he _could_ speak. He was, actually, quite a fluent conversationalist… if one ever managed to draw his interest long enough, that is.

The brat was obviously failing pathetically, just as everyone usually did.

Sephiroth felt the muscle of his jaw itching to twitch as he felt the irritating bitterness slowly aching in his chest.

"General S-Sephiroth, sir…" the shorter Trooper saluted him weakly, hand trembling. "D-Doctor H-Hojo requests your presence…"

Sephiroth felt a sudden painful, clenching feeling in his chest overcoming the bitterness, one he had never yet been able to identify as of now. It was the same, powerful, gnawing… _burning_ he felt whenever the scientist was mentioned. His emotions usually consisted of only calm and collected ones; the sudden appearance of new ones always managed to disturb him.

_Hojo_. The man's name resonated in his mind with a powerful sensation of distaste. One of the only people he could remember always being present in his life, but none of these memories brought him comfort. He avoided the man, always had, as much as his duties permitted him to.

He was one of the few who could make emotions rise in him… and he very much preferred the numbness of his mind and body, to the unsettling churning the scientist sent through him. Too long had he ignored his disgust for the man because of his duties; he would not be doing it any longer.

He _was _the General, after all. He could send someone else in his stead. He had never been one to abuse of his power, but he would do it for this matter.

Why hadn't he thought of this before?

Sephiroth turned his back to the young boy.

"No…" he took a step forward.

"Sir…?" the Trooper asked, confused.

"Inform Dr Hojo that I will not be joining him. I have more important business to attend to…" and so he continued on his way towards the exit which linked the Main Building to the Academy's entrance. He ignored the fear that he felt rising inside the boy's body. Hojo usually _hated_ being disobeyed. He momentarily felt a pinch in his chest; the boy would be the one to suffer the man's annoyance because of his declining the man's request.

He quickly suppressed the thought.

He _did_ have business to attend to. Heidegger had sent him on a special mission; a certain Zack Charon apparently showed much promise in his training. He had been ordered to analyze his capacities personally, even though the Sergeant normally could not apply for a proficiency test before a few more months.

This kind of duty was usually reserved to the SOLDIER examiners when candidates had been in the Military for the required amount of time, but he had done this before, if only a few short times… none of the previous ones had been very pleasant.

He would once again tolerate the bitterness… this also, he had become a master at.

* * *

The spiky haired teen grumbled as he pulled his uniform on roughly. A long train of swears escaped his mouth as he lost his balance while standing on a single foot to pull up a sock. He swore all the more loudly, pain filling his body as his back collided with the concrete floor. 

His body still hadn't fully recovered ever since his beating a month before.

Not that he really _had_ the chance to recover with that _bastard_ waking him up every day at ungodly hours of the morning, so they could train before his classes began.

And when they _did_ he only had to suffer through _other_ many hours of physical training.

Thank the Gods for the theory classes of the military academic program; he would never have gotten any time to let his body recover if not for them.

Zack had been honest when he'd told him he wouldn't go easy on him.

And Cloud, although relieved that he wasn't being treated specially, damned him to the deepest recesses of hell… because it was just plain fun to relieve himself on _someone_.

And because his body still hurt a month later, when really, he hadn't been in that bad of a shape and should have been completely healed after a week.

But the idiot kept inflicting even _more_ damage to his body every morning and had made it a pleasure to remind him each one of that said week when Cloud had still been on cafeteria duties, coming to the counter and grinning at him, annoyingly amused.

Cloud stood up, grabbing his other sock which innocently laid on top of his mattress and put it on violently, mentally cursing Zack Charon all the more.

But if one looked carefully enough, they might have noticed that a small, almost unperceivable smile played across the young spiky haired boy's thin lips.

At least Bill had made his presence scarce in the last month.

There was a short swish as the door of his room opened followed by a loud "Ohaaaaaaayogozaimasu!" as Hiroki entered and cheered the greeting at him.

Cloud simply grunted in response, sitting down on his mattress to put on his second sock, successfully this time. How the _hell_ could _he_ be so cheerful? That level of cheerfulness should have been prohibited at 4 am… and why was he here anyways? Classes didn't start this early.

Cloud would have gladly asked him if the muscles of his body were properly coordinated, if his pride had allowed him to… and they wouldn't be before Zack's first beating.

No, he couldn't have _coffee_ like the rest of the normal people… he woke up from thorough beatings on his already thoroughly _beaten _body!

He grunted again at his train of thoughts.

He didn't even like coffee anyways.

"Ah, don't look so bitter… I know you're really enjoying Sgt Charon's help…" Cloud had never learned, to this day, how Hiroki had found out of his and Zack's training sessions. "… but, guess what!" Hiroki chirped, clapping a hand on Cloud's shoulder, causing him to grunt once more, only this time in pain more than annoyance… no actually, it was both, at a very high level… and if he still had any _strength_ left in his body, he would probably have punched him.

Okay, that would have been overreacting slightly, but hell, he was Cloud Strife, he was _expected_ to do so at high levels of annoyance and misery.

And my, weren't his train of thoughts becoming pathetic lately? He restrained another grunt from escaping his mouth.

"…don't know… what?" Cloud finally grumbled, rubbing his palms against his face in an attempt to calm his irritation.

"I was recruited for training in the Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department!"

Cloud frowned, looking up at Hiroki.

Come again?

Hiroki smiled widely, amused at Cloud's confusion.

**_Smart ass…_** Cloud mentally grumbled.

"The Turks…" Hiroki explained head cocking to the side as he smirked, eyes glinting with an emotion unknown to Cloud, but he was pretty sure he saw something that resembled sadistic excitement in there.

Cloud snorted. Recruited for Turks training? Well, that would be how he had found out about Zack's training sessions. The guy _had_ always been good at gathering information, if only for gossiping purposes.

"Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department, huh?" Cloud said sarcastically, at the same time as another swish came from the door as it opened. The spiky haired teen glanced over Hiroki's shoulder to look at a whistling Zack who was casually carrying his 250 pounds sword against his shoulder.

He grinned at Cloud, who shot a glower at him.

"Fancy name to give the worst kind of scumbags in the Shinra Company, huh?" The dark haired young man said innocently. Hiroki turned around, glaring.

Zack shrugged off the angry stare. "How else would you call people who do all of Shinra's dirty work? They don't only gather information, pal; they spy, they kidnap… they assassinate…" he let his words do their desired effect, his dark blue eyes taking a more solemn glint, before he grinned happily once more.

"Of course, this information is all unofficial. Shinra would never admit what's _really _on the Turks' work sheet… hence why they're called Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department… but you hear a lot of things when you go down to the Slums."

Hiroki sent an even fiercer glare at him. "Well, guess what? I'm _from_ the Slums…" he snapped angrily before turning around and walking out of the room.

Cloud and Zack stared after him, perplexed. "Reason more not to want to join the Turks, I'd've figured…" Zack muttered to himself, frowning in thought. "Your friends are weird Cloudy-boy…" Zack teased, finally coming out of his ponderings and returning to his normal attitude.

The blond haired teen glared at him. "Don't call me that!" Cloud snapped as he got up to take his book bag from beside his bed.

"Alright, Cloudy-boy," Zack continued, smile widening as he put an arm around Cloud's shoulders and pulled him out of the room.

Cloud groaned pulling away violently from the bothersome touch, glaring all the more at the older young man, only to receive an even goofier grin.

Why was it that only cheerful people seemed to surround him? Why couldn't he have nice, quiet, _sane_ friends?

Not that Zack was his friend or anything…

They rode the elevator up to the Training Facility, which was a large room that contained many weapons for training use and had wide spaces for sparring practice.

Zack of course, babbled about nonsense the entire time, all of which Cloud dutifully ignored, only nodding and mumbling sounds of acknowledgement every now and then to keep the dark haired man entertained… not that he was trying to be nice to him, or anything… Zack simply tended to whine a lot when he knew he wasn't being listened.

Just as the elevator stopped at the right floor and Cloud took his first step out it, he was harshly whacked behind the head, causing him to bend forward abruptly, yelping in pain. Holding the back of his head, he turned around violently.

"You crazy _fuck_! What the hell was that for!" he raged, glaring at Zack as he still held on to his newly acquainted bruise.

Zack cackled happily, a sound Cloud had only ever heard _him_ do, his hands on his hips and sword bouncing in its sheath, strapped in his back. "Language, Cadet!" he chanted. "You weren't listening to me, were you?" he said, smiling, eyes narrowed in mock suspicion, when he finally stopped laughing.

"So?" Cloud spat, rubbing the back of his head one last time before letting his hand fall back down to his side. "I didn't know my listening to you was part of the '_contract'_…" he snapped angrily. He turned around walking into the Training Facility, only to quickly duck down as he heard a shift in the air behind him, his reflexes acting before he ever acknowledged the sound.

The bastard had tried to whack him again!

He dashed to the side and spun around, staring at Zack with eyes wide. The young man still had his fist extended where he had tried to hit Cloud.

Zack grinned at him. "My, my, Cloudy… you're getting better!"

Cloud gaped at him, about to curse at him, when he noticed Zack suddenly pull out his Buster sword and dash swiftly towards him. Blood started pumping rapidly through his veins, his breathing becoming labored. Before he could even think, he rolled on the floor behind Zack and pushed himself back to his feet, darting for the weapon cabinet a few meters away. He glanced back quickly behind him several times, barely dodging each of Zack's enraged sword slashes by quickly pushing his body out of the attacks' way.

**_That bastard! He's finally gone mad! I'm not even armed for fuck's sake! _**He screamed in his mind, suddenly throwing himself to the ground to avoid a violent horizontal slash. The air was knocked out of his lungs as his already aching body collided with the floor, the added pain contracting all his muscles and leaving him breathless. Groaning in pain, his eyes closed involuntarily, squinting painfully.

He heard another shift in the air and knew the sword was coming down on him dangerously fast.

**_From the right!_** His mind screamed at him in alert. He frantically rolled on the left, his arms instantly pushing his body off the ground. He looked quickly over his shoulder and saw Zack on his knees, holding his sword down against the floor, where Cloud's body had been seconds before. He slowly stood up.

Cloud hesitated a moment, relaxing for a single fraction of second as he thought he had more time to reach for the weapon cabinet. Zack was on his knees and would take more time to recover for a second attack. But then, Zack glanced at him quickly, smirking, and he raised his sword, sending it in a crescent-like horizontal slash. Cloud's eyes widened as he jumped off the ground to dodge the hit, pushing himself off the ground and backwards. He stumbled on the ground a second later but almost instantly turned around and opened the doors of the weapon cabinet, taking whatever sword he first reached – making it just in time to turn back and dodge another slash aimed in a vertical line at his shoulder.

Zack's sword instead collided with the weapon racks behind Cloud as the younger boy shifted to the side.

Zack quickly recovered and thrust his sword to his left, towards his opponent, but Cloud turned around swiftly just in time to hold his sword in front of him and block Zack's attack. Cloud growled between his clenched teeth as he held his sword with all his strength, one had on the hilt, the other against the blade. He pushed against Zack's powerful sword, keeping it from slicing his body into two neat pieces.

"W-What the hell are you… doing…!" he hissed through clenched teeth, his breath ragged from the physical exertion.

"I'm attacking you… what does it look like?" Zack said playfully, smirking down at the shorter spiky haired blond.

"You a-attacked me from b-behind! Unprepared!" Cloud raged through harsh breaths. He groaned in pain, as Zack pushed his blade down upon Cloud's, applying even more strength. Cloud held his ground still, pushing back against it, but his strained muscles were rapidly loosing strength; they had already begun trembling inwardly. He growled pushing back with all his might.

"You think you're always going to be _prepared_ in a true fight? In the real thing, the enemy can strike whenever they want. There's no such thing as being fair, in a fight. There are no 'rules'. They _will_ always attack you unprepared, Cloud…"

Zack pushed his sword even harder against Cloud's, causing the shorter boy to groan. Cloud stared up into Zack's eyes, his azure eyes flaming with a powerful, determined rage. Zack could see the hate in those eyes, could see the anger at his own helplessness.

"Come on, Cloud… is that all you've got? Stop defending! Attack me!" he taunted, pushing his face closer to Cloud's as he pushed ever harder against Cloud's sword. He could feel him trembling.

"How disappointing… I never thought you were so weak…" he whispered, smirking.

There was an explosion in the blue pools of Cloud's eyes as he suddenly snarled and pushed violently against Zack's sword, driving the man backwards forcefully. Zack slightly stumbled back, staring down at the boy who was standing breathlessly a meter away.

"I'm not weak!" he shouted, holding his sword higher in front of him, with determined fury. He suddenly broke into a run and began attacking frantically. Zack dodged or blocked every one of his attacks with his own sword, laughing tauntingly.

"So this is the sort of skill a person who is not weak possesses, Cloud? Don't make me laugh! This is pathetic!" he mocked intentionally. The power he knew Cloud had inside of him was slowly awakening with the guidance of his rage.

An almost hysterical scream resounded from Cloud, his voice cracking with what sounded as a restrained sob. Zack suddenly felt a blow to his abdomen as Cloud kicked him powerfully, pushing him backwards. Zack, surprised, stumbled back and dodged a slash from Cloud's sword aimed at chest and fell to his knees, losing his balance as he moved to the side too abruptly to evade Cloud's new thrust at his face. He felt a sting against his cheek and felt a hot liquid slowly sliding down his skin.

He stared up at Cloud who was now about to slash his sword down on him. His fingers tightened around the Buster sword's hilt, preparing to raise it above him and block Cloud's next blow, but just as the spiky haired blond's arms were above his head, his eyes seemed to catch something behind Zack. His eyes suddenly widened and his movement faltered, the grip of his weapon loosening. Zack paid no heed to what could have brought such a reaction out of him and took the opportunity to raise his sword horizontally and push it roughly against Cloud's unguarded torso with the butt of his blade, sending the boy to the floor with a pained gasp, his sword clattering a few meters away.

Zack stared at the motionless boy lying on his back. Frowning in concern, he slowly lowered his Buster sword to the floor and glanced over his shoulder to where Cloud had stared minutes before. Surely it must have been something disconcerting to make him lose such focused rage.

He saw long black boots and long, black leather covered legs half hidden underneath a boundless leather and equally black trench coat. Zack's dark blue eyes trailed up the man's tall, broad form. He saw black leather from his feet, up to the tips of his gloved fingers, the blackness broken only by the silver hair and shoulder plates. The only visible pale skin on this impersonation of coldness was his face and muscular chest, bared by the formed V of his unfastened coat. A cascade of long silky silver tresses tumbled over his shoulders and down his back.

Several locks hooded his face and eyes as the chilling aqua pools stared emotionlessly at Cloud and Zack.

General Sephiroth stood there, back resting against the wall a few inches away from the entrance door of the room. His arms were calmly crossed over his chest as he silently observed them. Zack felt the same shivers he had felt the only time he had met this man before, slowly creeping up his spine once more. He felt unsettled by the unperceivable void in the man's mako green eyes.

How could a human being be so unfeeling? So… blank? Zack easily perceived people's feelings… but this man… when he tried to reach for possible emotions, he was frozen by a wild, raging blizzard.

_**I've said it before, I'll say it again… the guy is **scary…_

Cloud finally groaned behind Zack and slowly sat up, rubbing his abdomen. He stared at Zack strangely before his eyes once again fell on the General. His eyes seemed to widen for an instant, but, as if restraining his emotions, his face suddenly went blank as he looked away and stood up, staring stubbornly at the opposite wall with disinterest.

Zack looked back towards Sephiroth, perplexed by Cloud's attitude. Was he trying to hide the fact that he completely worshipped him? Well… that was a new attitude for a Sephiroth groupie…

Zack mentally chuckled.

Sephiroth's gaze lingered on Cloud for a few moments before the man finally closed his eyes for a short instant, as if inwardly sighing and straightened himself off the wall and uncrossed his arms, letting them fall to his sides. Opening his eyes once more, blankly staring in front of him, he slowly walked closer to Zack.

Zack frowned, standing up as he observed the man. His every movement was so naturally measured and gracious that Zack wondered himself how the man managed to do it. **_How can he look, dress and act so gay and still… absolutely not seem like he is?_**

As Sephiroth's gaze abruptly refocused on him, Zack felt his insides churn. _**Oh come on… he can't **read minds **too… can he? Okay, calm down, you're just being paranoid. **_

But the closer Sephiroth walked, the more unsettled Zack became. It probably wasn't noticeable from the outside with the laid back, cheerful attitude he always put on, but he still _hated_ the fact that _he_ knew that a single person was making him _freak out_, when no one else ever could.

"Sgt Zack Charon," Sephiroth's emotionless voice suddenly spoke, breaking his mental ramblings. It wasn't a question; it was a statement. The man was sure of himself; all business, no crap. Zack's eyes snapped back to the taller man's frame, only slightly tilting his chin upwards to stare into his eyes as the General stopped in front of him.

He hated every minute of it.

He felt like a stupid vulnerable cowardly _wimp_ standing in front of this imperturbable, frightening man.

He hated staring into the void of the man's mako green eyes, but he despised the fact that he _couldn't_ look away even more.

He was not scared.

He _wasn't._

…but _God Damn It_, the man was just **_scary._**

And he really, **_really _**needed to get that stick out of his ass. Who the hell could walk that straight without even looking like he was _trying_? Who the hell could keep on such a poker face without even _flinching_? And who the _hell _could wear all leather garments and have that hair without even _looking_ gay?

And for god's sake, why didn't he wear any shirt underneath his coat and showed off his chest like that?

To others, his thoughts might have resembled those of jealousy, but Zack felt no such thing. He was purely, entirely unsettled. He couldn't understand this person and the fact on its own was extremely disconcerting, and so… the only thing he could do was question himself and feel extremely annoyed towards Sephiroth.

"General Sephiroth," Zack answered instantly after being addressed, nodding respectfully. Had those words really passed in his mind so rapidly? It had felt like an unbearable eternity to him. Thoughts flashed through minds quite faster than words, it seemed.

"I was given the task of testing your abilities. It would seem that you have drawn the attention of many during your time here at Shinra," coming from another's mouth, the words might have sounded complimenting, but Sephiroth was simply methodically stating the facts as if he'd read them from a report.

**_Which he probably did…_** Zack mentally snorted. No respects would ever come from this man's mouth unless all Hell had broken loose.

"As you are probably aware… you shall be able to participate in the SOLDIER examination in 2 months time, as it is required for every candidate who wishes to participate, to have been a Trooper for at least 5 months before being allowed to partake in the examination," Sephiroth explained systematically.

"Uh… so why exactly are you here then?" Zack said smiling sheepishly, scratching his head. He regretted it instantly.

There was no change in Sephiroth emotionless demeanor, but he could almost feel the man wanting to reach for the Masamune behind his back and slash his head off.

He was getting _really_ paranoid.

Sephiroth remained silent for several more seconds, as if carefully processing the words in his mind and deciding which was better to answer.

_**This guy isn't human… he's a **computer**! Does he have to calculate through everything he does?**_ Zack wondered, annoyed… and more so by each additional second.

Great, now he'd soon be thinking Sephiroth was an _alien_ living inside a human's body.

"I was requested by Heidegger to personally judge of your skills and determine if it would be profitable were you to be allowed to partake in the examination now, even though you haven't been a trooper for 5 months," he answered dispassionately.

Zack was convinced the man truly wanted to get this over with once and for all. As much as he was averted by his attitude, Sephiroth probably felt the same way towards him.

He was somehow surprised that he'd brought so much attention to himself though. It was true that he'd been here for 8 months now and after becoming a trooper, once his 5 first months at the academy finished, he had almost instantly been promoted to Sergeant and had been put in charge of a cadet squad. They had also offered him an instructor position, but he wanted to become SOLDIER and most of the instructors were troopers that had remained grunts for years, unable to fulfil the SOLDIERs proficiency tests; Zack refused to be stalled down by such duties. Although he knew that it was considered a remarkable feat, he had never considered it possible to draw the attention of the Head of ShinRa's Peace Preservation Department, in charge of the Public Safety Maintenance (_that_ was the fancy name for the Military) _and_ the Turks.

He figured 'The Great' Sephiroth's unfriendly presence was worth it. The man probably rarely ever did these things, except on very special occasions.

"Wow… I guess that makes me _special_, huh?" Zack grinned goofily, glancing back at Cloud, only to notice that the teen was still staring at the opposite wall with disinterest.

And that left him with only Ice Cube, here, to share jokes with… and as he turned back to the General, the man's expression was an awkward reminder.

Well, there was _no_ expression, to begin with, hence why the awkwardness of it all was exactly like a punch in the face.

**_Smart move, Soldier…_** Zack mentaly muttered to himself as Sephiroth continued to stare at him blankly.

Okay, perhaps his joke hadn't been _that_ funny, but couldn't he have at least quirked his eyebrow to mock him or something?

Anything was better than… than… _nothing!_

Zack felt a breakdown discretely making its way closer towards him. He felt like hiding his face in his hands, and would have, if not only for the fact that he would have felt even stupider in front of the frisky General.

"Shall we begin?" Sephiroth finally asked impassively. Zack wondered for a moment how he even recognized the interrogation in the sentence as the word "zombie" flashed through his mind and consequently, he reminded himself that he probably should not think of those things since the guy possibly read minds _too_, with his luck.

"Begin _what_, exactly… uh… sir?" Zack suddenly grew a bit nervous.

"Fighting me," Sephiroth answered simply.

**_What! Ho- WH- HUH! _**His mind loudly stuttered. Zack took several moments to calm himself.

Test his abilities… against Sephiroth? _The_ Sephiroth!

He might have not liked the man a whole lot but he sure as _Hell_ recognized an excellent fighter when he saw one and _he _certainly was one of them.

Not that he didn't consider himself as one also.

But this wasn't fair.

At all.

This was _over_kill.

Who the hell wanted to be recognized by the Head of the Military when they sent you this _killing machine_ as test conductor!

No way.

Nuh uh.

He didn't want to be good anymore.

He was being childish and extremely irrational. He loved fighting and this would probably be one of the biggest, most exciting challenges he would ever face.

But he didn't care.

Sephiroth was just… he couldn't fight with this unfeeling person.

At that moment, he utterly, completely hated himself.

"Didn't you see me fight with Cloud, before? Isn't that enough?" Zack asked, frowning.

Sephiroth aqua gaze shifted to Cloud once more. "Hardly…" he answered coolly as his stare shifted back down to Zack, emotion, or lack thereof, unchanged.

Zack didn't have to look to _know_ Cloud had twitched at the comment. The kid was obviously seething with fury.

_**What an **asshole _Zack's mind screamed as he scowled at the silver haired man, feeling all traces of hesitance suddenly vanish from his body.

Abruptly, he lowered himself to his knees to grab the hilt of his sword and stood back up, readying himself into a fighting stance.

How dare he say such a thing about Cloud! How dare he answer his question with a single word, not even judging it worthwhile to explain what he meant!

This man did not deserve respect for he held none for others.

"I'm ready…" Zack finally said expression and tone solemn.

He saw the silver haired man nod and was spared no time to react as he suddenly found the man but a few inches of his face an instant later. Eyes widening in horror, he reflexively jumped backwards slashing his sword in front of him, but Sephiroth had already dashed to his left, no sound movement perceivable but the sound of his long black coat flapping behind him. He moved silently, neither the shifting of the air around him nor the sound of his footfalls was noticeable.

Zack felt the panic rise in him as he quickly spun around and instinctively held his large sword in front of him, blocking whatever hit he expected to receive.

But there came none and an instant later, he saw that tall, dark frame motionless before him once more and felt a grip around his throat, tightening uncomfortably.

Zack stared up at the man's eyes fearfully.

He saw the first traces of emotion in those pale green orbs. The cool emerald pools had been slightly perturbed by waves of… _something _whirling inside his soul. Zack could still not distinguish anything in the man's eyes, even though they had obviously became alive the moment the fight had begun.

Excitement?

_Passion_?

A fighting, lonesome spirit which could only be moved by the rush of adrenaline brought by battle; was that there the mystery behind Sephiroth?

This probably was not the time to ponder such a lost cause.

"Stop defending or this ends here. Don't waste my time," Sephiroth spoke quietly to him, again his words calm and emotionless as the long fingers tightened around Zack's throat.

Zack grimaced at the sensation before pushing the butt of his sword against Sephiroth and successfully breaking the grip he had on his neck as he pushed himself backwards. He wasted no time, determined not to let the man attack him first again, as he launched himself to him, slashing his sword.

Sephiroth slightly bent his body to the side, dodging the hit at the last instant by a mere hair's thread.

Zack glared at the man, stalling in his moves, sword still held where he had aimed at his opponent. He was taunting him.

The bastard was trying to anger him by flaunting his superiority!

Or so it seemed, from Zack's point of view.

With a snarl, Zack set into an enraged frenzy attacking him of all sides and yet, the blade only swiped air as Sephiroth dodged and blocked every last one of them with his boot.

And the man had yet to draw his katana.

The fight continued for several minutes. Zack attacked in successively rapid hits, but no matter the level of agility and cunning the man used against his opponent, the tall silver haired warrior went beyond him in every aspect, deflecting and evading his every move as if anticipating every last one of them.

Sephiroth, seemingly having grown tired of the foreplay, suddenly kicked back the last sword slash sent his way and somersaulted above Zack, only to thrust his feet in the man's back while still in the air, before landing behind the stumbling spiky haired young man.

The silver haired man slowly turned around just in time to watch Zack regain his balance and instantly whirl around, launching himself once again, raising his large sword in the air to then slash it in a downward, vertical arc.

Zack smirked widely as he noticed the unmoving Sephiroth, thinking the regain of his balance had been quicker than the silver haired man's expectations and he had finally been able to thwart his impenetrable defenses.

The entire moment passed in a single second as Sephiroth calmly stared into Zack's eyes and steadily waited for the weapon to hit the top of his head.

But the blade never touched him, stopping a millimeter above his head. He could feel the air shifting his hair softly where the weapon abruptly stopped above him.

Breathing harshly as he held the sword firmly above Sephiroth's head, Zack's smirk widened.

"I win…" he hissed between ragged breaths.

Sephiroth's eyes suddenly narrowed sharply as his hand shot behind his back, unsheathing his long, thin sword. Zack unable to react, blinded by a flash of light as the General slashed his sword against Zack's in a lightning fast movement and sent it flying behind its master, clattering heavily to the floor several meters behind.

A second later, he found the sharp tip of the Masamune pressing against his jugular, Sephiroth holding the silver blade extended at its full, menacing length before him.

"Fool…" Sephiroth finally said to him.

Zack glared hatefully at him in return. The word had insulted him, but the tone of his voice had insulted him all the more. The silver haired man had spoken so emotionlessly a word which should have held an insulting purpose that it had only held, at that moment, the purpose of assuredly informing him of his weakness.

Sephiroth's emotionless statement had been spoken with such silent certainty that Zack could, in no way, not believe it himself.

"You are weak," Sephiroth again spoke, with cool assurance as he slowly lowered his sword and smoothly slid it back into its sheath strapped in his back, all the while staring blankly at the slightly shorter man before him.

"In missions we fight to win. We fight for our mission, with the intent of successfully _completing_ them."

In his rage, Zack heard hesitant footsteps coming closer to them.

Was it Cloud?

"We do not fight with the intent of finding the best alternate peaceful solution to settle a conflict… a way of fighting of which you reek." The words were all spoken so calmly and without any trace of scorn that Zack could only become even more enraged by the confusion the man brought him.

How could one want to or even _feel_ insulted when the person throwing said insults did not even have the intent of mocking him?

All his words spoke the undeniable truth and _that_ was why Zack slowly felt the hate rising inside him.

He hated this man for so easily making him doubt _himself._

"You are wea-"

"**_Shut up!_**" Cloud's loud shout suddenly interrupted him.

Zack and Sephiroth's head quickly shot towards the owner of the shouted words.

Zack, eyes wide, numbstruck, stared at the short spiky haired blond who now stood only a feet away.

For the first time since his arrival, there seemed to be emotion in Sephiroth's pale face as his aqua eyes widened slightly for a brief moment.

Several moments passed in tense silence as Cloud stared up at the tall silver haired man towering over him, seemingly appalled at his own words by the uncertain, almost _fearful_ look in his blue eyes.

The stubborn teen suddenly frowned in determination and glared at the General.

"Who the _hell_ could be judged as weak for _that_ stupid reason!" Cloud questioned rudely. "You saw just as well as I did that the guy fights well, _sir_, no matter what his intent!"

Sephiroth quirked a silver eyebrow, staring down emotionlessly at the much shorter boy.

"And who are you to deem him so worthy of praise?" as asked coolly.

Cloud blinked in confusion, frowning hesitantly. He faltered for a moment, his courage and anger abruptly deflating the instant the man spoke to him. The words spoken by Sephiroth finally registered in his mind and he suddenly remembered who exactly _he_ was. "C-Cloud Strife… sir," he answered uncertainly, yet still stubbornly staring into the older man's frighteningly cold aqua eyes.

Several minutes passed once more through unbearable silence. The spiky haired teen felt a strong urge to run away at that moment. A thousand thoughts raced frantically through his mind so quickly that even his own brain couldn't perceive their meaning. His heart raced madly inside his chest, every beat pounding loudly in his ears.

He was pretty sure the whole damn _building_ could hear it, let alone Sephiroth.

He was so _stupid._

Who did he think he was, talking to General Sephiroth the way he had?

He could be expelled from the Academy for his indiscretion.

He was a _nobody_; a scrawny, weak, short ass spiky haired blond and _he'd_ thought his words could change anything of the General's opinion; that anything _he_ said would even be considered the silver haired man…?

He was such a _fool_.

He could think of a hundred punishments Sephiroth could inflict upon him for his transgression. But instead, just as Cloud's anxious thoughts raced through his mind, the man's thin, pale lips quirked upwards for an instant before Sephiroth returned his attention to Zack, his head turning sharply towards the slightly shorter young man.

"Until you fight with an intent to kill, you will not be joining my ranks," Sephiroth finally stated, the coldness in his voice somewhat less present in his voice, leaving both Zack and Cloud extremely confused.

"I did not dodge your last attack simply because I knew that you would stop,"

"Of course I was going to stop!" Zack suddenly raged. "I'm not going to slice a ranking officer in two, am I?"

"You wouldn't have been able to do so," Sephiroth countered emotionlessly, eyebrow slightly quirking

in confusion, as if puzzled as to why someone like Zack could have possibly thought himself strong enough to beat him.

"Oh, thanks for reminding me," Zack snapped sourly.

"That knowledge alone should have been enough to make you thrust your sword without hesitation and not stall in your attack," Sephiroth stated calmly, his tone almost reprimanding, yet the coldness in his voice remained.

Cloud stared at the exchange in wonder.

What was happening here?

The way Sephiroth was taking the time to explain his motives seemed uncannily… out of character of the man he had been only moments before, even if he was doing so without so much as a trace of sympathy or any other emotion whatsoever.

The General of only moments before would have simply stated his faults to Zack, leaving him to miserably ponder on them alone.

Could it be that the man, under his frostiness, didn't want to destroy Zack's resolve but… instead… help it grow stronger?

"Well, I couldn't take the chance! Even if I knew you could win against me any time… I wasn't thinking… this wasn't a real fight, for God's sake! I couldn't just try to rip you apart just so I'd assuredly get my ass up the ranks!" Zack yelled angrily.

"And so, you will remain weak…" Sephiroth countered icily, slowly turning away from Zack and walking towards the entrance of the gym, silky silver hair and long leather trench coat swishing behind him with every step.

Cloud frowned. The man was truly unreadable. One minute he was willing to patiently - although unfeelingly - explain his actions, and the other, he was straightforwardly insulting Zack - yet not doing so with the intent to degrade - and leaving him with vague words to miserably ponder on.

The dark spiky haired young man stared grudgingly at the retreating man's tall form, just as Cloud stared at him, trying to sort his wild emotions, battling from wonder to rage.

Just as Sephiroth reached the entrance door, he briefly stalled in his steps, looking over his shoulder.

His aqua eyes settled on Cloud's short form, eyes locking with the boy's azure ones.

Cloud's eyes widened as the man gave him an unreadable look, before turning away a second later and disappearing behind the heavy metal doors.

The spiky haired blond blinked, as if suddenly awakening from a dream and frowned, staring blankly in front of him.

"Bet you're glad you finally met him, huh?" Zack's cheerful tone suddenly intruded his mind.

Cloud blinked once more, confused eyes turning to the dark haired young man beside him. He stared at Zack for a few moments, wondering why he wore such a happy expression now, after everything that had just happened.

"What?" Cloud finally asked, shaking his head.

"Man, you got it baaaaaaad…" Zack blew a low whistle, shaking his head as he smiled mischievously.

Cloud's eyes widened impossibly. "**_What?!_**" he barked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well… I dunno, Cloudy-boy… you were staring off at him pretty dreamily just now…"

Cloud frowned disgustedly at the older man, grimacing. "You _pervert_… this has nothing to do with _anything_ of the sort!" he yelled angrily, his cheeks flaring up with perhaps more than fury.

Zack grinned impishly before his smile dropped to a sheepish one, frowning apologetically. "Hey man, I'm just messing around with you…"

Cloud shot him a last heated glare before dropping his eyes at the floor.

"But I bet you're glad you got to meet him anyways, huh?" Zack ventured cheerfully, elbowing Cloud in the ribs playfully.

The spiky haired blond swatted the young man's arm away from him, growling in annoyance. "I don't know!" he shot angrily.

"Yeah… I know what you mean," Zack said. "Pretty unsettling, isn't he?"

Cloud simply frowned in response. "I don't know if I should hate him or admire him right now,"

Zack gasped in a falsely hurt tone, slapping a hand to his chest for dramatic effect. "You wound me, darling… all I ever wanted was your support!"

Cloud glared angrily at Zack. The dark haired man simply punched his shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Hey, but really… thanks for rushing to my defense, back there," Zack smiled thankfully at him.

Cloud cheeks suddenly heated up before he quickly turned his head away, raising his chin proudly as he smiled bitterly. "I wasn't taking your defense," he said stubbornly. "but if he judged you as weak, I can only imagine what he thought about me, huh?" he snapped, but his tone sounded wounded.

Zack smirked, cocking his head to the side. "Ah… so you were only protecting your wounded pride, huh? Right… figures…" Zack chuckled.

Cloud frowned at Zack, unable to successfully hold his glare.

Zack suddenly walked to his discarded sword, sheathing it in his back.

"That was freakin' courageous though, talking to _Sephiroth_, out of all people, the way you did. Never thought you had it in you, Cloudy-boy!"

Cloud's fiery glare suddenly regained its fire at the name used to address him. "How many times do I have to tell you _not to **call me** that!_" he almost yelled, which, of course, only caused Zack to chuckle. He patted Cloud's shoulder firmly as he turned to walk towards the entrance of the gym, which was actually the elevator on the other side of the doors.

"No one's ever talked to him the way you did, you know?" Zack finally said on a more serious tone as they entered the elevator. He punched in the numbers to the cafeteria's floor and the elevator began its smooth descent, humming softly.

"Really?" Cloud said a little more excitedly than he'd meant to, his eyes brightening meaningfully. The teenager kicked himself mentally the second the word had left him.

Zack smirked knowingly at him. "You can bet on it… and between you and me, _that_ sure as hell made an impact on _him_."

Cloud's eyes lit up with an even brighter glow, his shoulders straightening from their almost defeated demeanor. "_I_ had an impact on _Sephiroth_?" Cloud wondered, voice several octaves higher than its usual pitch. He almost _did_ physically bash his head in the thick elevator metal walls when it finally registered in his mind what his voice must have sounded like.

He mentally whimpered in shame at Zack's wide grin. "Well… he _did _check you ou-" Cloud's eyes became impossibly wide with rage at the innuendo behind Zack's words "- ahem – I mean… look back at _you_ before leaving…"

Cloud sent his elder a deadly glare before resting his back against the wall behind him, sighing.

"And might I add that he never even reprimanded you for your behavior when every other officer would have beat your ass to the ground…" Zack scoffed, suddenly taking an insulted tone "no, of course not… _I'm_ the only one who got bashed for not wanting to slash _His Holiness_' ass in two!"

Cloud smirked. "You wouldn't have been able to, to begin with."

Zack sharply turned towards him, staring down insanely at him. "Will you people _stop_ rubbing it in, already!" he raged in an almost childish tone before pouting and resting his back against the wall beside Cloud. He let his head fall back, knocking against the metal wall as he sighed dejectedly. He blinked, as if suddenly remembering something as he raised a hand to his cheek and wiped the blood from the cut Cloud had inflicted on him with the back of his hand.

"But I think that bastard was right… I'm probably going to be a danger to missions if I don't ever start fighting with the intent to kill. SOLDIERs have to complete their missions, they can't hesitate while trying to find more peaceful solutions… but damn it, I can't just change who I am and sell my soul to the devil, can I?" he spoke, more to himself than Cloud and the teenage was glad for he would have found no words of comfort for him.

"He's such a fucking _asshole_ though…" Zack finally grumbled sulkily.

Cloud smirked. "He still rocks more than you."

Zack frowned before smiling widely, straightening himself off the wall to properly look down at his companion. "_More_ than me…? Oh-ho, my dear Cloudy-boy, but wouldn't that imply that I _also _rock?"

Cloud raised an eyebrow hiding his embarrassment at the slip of his tongue. "Hell no… it means you _suck_ and Sephiroth could kick _your_ ass any time."

"Bleh…" Zack grimaced, looking away from Cloud as he let his head knock back against the wall behind him. "Traitor… I hate you stupid Sephiroth groupies."

Cloud's cheeks heated in embarrassment and anger. "I'm no damn _groupie_!"

Zack smirked. "Oh sorry… you _did_ tell him to shut up, didn't you?" Zack closed his eyes, pausing to think for a moment. "No… I apologize for my mistake… that would make you a very much _frustrated _groupie," his last words spoken, he cackled happily, in the creepy way he always seemed to laugh.

Cloud harshly kicked Zack's shin as soon as the idiotic words left his mouth, causing the taller man to bounce off his feet, yelping in pain as he continued to laugh.

"Asshole…" Cloud hissed, arms crossed moodily over his chest as he scowled at the dark haired laughing man beside him.

Rage coursed through his body as he glared at the man, his shoulders still bouncing laughter.

But as the chuckles bounced off the elevator words and engulfed the small compartment, Cloud couldn't help but let the laughter overcome his anger and allow the corner of his mouth to lift into a soft smile.

Maybe Zack wasn't so bad, after all…

But like _hell_ he'd ever admit that.

So now he was off to another day at the Academy… and his body hurt even _more_ than usual.

Bastard…

* * *

_**Author's note: **OMG! It's finally done! So… how'd y'all like it? I wasn't sure about this chapter… about the way I wrote Sephiroth and all that… but I think I'm becoming more and more content with the results every time I read it. _

_So I hope you all enjoyed it… I've felt pretty shittty these last two days, for some reason… nauseous and all that… so I'm sorry if I don't leave a comment as long as usual._

_Tell me what you think and make my nausea go away with all your lovely comments!_

_I WILL try to update sooner!_

_Later! _


	5. Confusion

**Author's note:** **_Daaaaaaaaamn it's been a while, y'all! I know, I know... I'm sorry... I will try harder next time, as I've told many of you reviewers..._**

_**But anyways, thanks to everyone who's put up with my laziness and haven't given up on the fic. I really hope all you guys will like this new chapter.**_

_**I'd like to answer a question a lot of you seem to be wondering about. Zack and Cloud. I can't tell you what I'm planning, and I know I said at the beginning of this fic that there wouldn't be anything between the two of them... but their **will **be something... no relationship and this fic will always remain Sephiroth/Cloud oriented, but their will be something between Zack and Cloud, at some point. I can also tell you that their will be other - hmm... let's say "couplings" - than Sephiroth/Cloud... but I won't tell you who or how or when... you'll just have to wait P**_

_**I'd also like to comment on the fact that a few people mentioned that they had never expected Cloud to act the way he does in my fic. I actually understand this, because Cloud seemed pretty well... weak in Nibelheim, letting himself be insulted by others when he was blamed for Tifa's accident. I think that from the moment he decided to leave to Midgar and become a SOLDIER, he decided not to take anyone's bullshit anymore... although, inside, he's still the weak, small boy who thinks lowly of himself. That'll come back to haunt him later and it **still **haunts him in certain ways. **_

_**Anyways! I'd like to give a special thanks to the Demonic Duo and also to my Beta who's been a very big help. I love you both.**_

_**Also, to all those who reviewed but I couldn't reply to, I apologize... but don't worry, I read every last one of your reviews and thank you all for them!**_

_**Alright! Onto the REAL deal!**_

_**The new chapter!!**_

_**WOOOHOOO!**_

**Chapter 5**

**Confusion**

The blankness of his mind sometimes surprised him. How _did_ one manage to not have anything on their mind? How _could_ he be completely focused on only one thing, without his thoughts ever wandering to places which they should not meander? Was that not the purpose of youth, after all? To endlessly ponder on pointless details? To contemplate silly ideas and nervously mull over every aspect of his life?

Yes, those _were_ the 'wonders' of youth… but he supposed his youth had ended long ago, even though his twenty-three years of life had yet to pass.

Whenever he found himself waiting on people, like he was now, he could usually stand staring into the nothingness, his mind completely devoid of any thoughts. The ability came to him naturally; he had no need to rid his thoughts of inappropriate dwellings like most individuals of his gender constantly had to.

Not that he had never experienced 'inappropriate thoughts'. Sharing the pleasures of the flesh had always been something he rejoiced in, but like conversations, it rarely occurred. People scarcely ever sparked his interest very long - and this could be said for every aspect of life, and so his mind remained blank, for lack of need to think of anything whatsoever seeing as how nothing lit his interest… nothing was worthwhile.

The blankness of his mind was soothing to the numerous irritabilities he was daily faced with, but more often than most, the void in his soul caused him to dwell upon himself instead… therefore his thoughts could no longer be called "blank".

In the end, the General perhaps _was_ faced with the same aspects of life as any other young man.

A very boring, brooding young man.

Which, from a more _normal_ point of view, was usually called an _old_ man.

Or was it?

Why did he ever bother pondering on these pointless things as of late? Never before had he found it to put aside any train of thought that did not belong in his line of duty or business of the day.

Had he been any other person, he would have sighed in exasperation, but somehow, physical reactions to emotion rarely found their way through the teasingly impenetrable barrier that was his skin.

It was in these moments that he remembered that the blankness of his mind was his hidden streak of… 'laziness'; his brain had subconsciously developed a self-defence mechanism against confusion, because it was simply too troublesome to sort through… hence its ability to naturally remain blank.

And as the 'laziness' had finally seemed to kick in, a voice tickled his consciousness and pulled him out of his peaceful trance-like state.

"Do ya think we should kick him awake, yo?" a man's familiar voice spoke but a mere feet behind him. The lazy, laid back attitude was perceivable even through his tone.

"Hm…" came another man's voice, lower and deeper than the previous. His short response was emotionless, his tone serious and business like, but Sephiroth could still distinguish some trace of amusement in the reply. He was accustomed to emotionless responses, after all.

There was a short pause before the first man spoke again.

"What the hell you laughin' at, yo?" the lazy man asked, annoyed.

"I'm certain that he could slash your head off before your foot ever reached, Reno…" came a third man's voice, as steps were heard moving closer inside the room.

Sephiroth turned around slowly to face them, a single silver eyebrow raised slightly. His aqua eyes inevitably first fell on untamed flaming locks where black goggles lay on his forehead beneath the mess.

The lean man's bright hair would forever remain the first thing to attract attention in a room.

**_Like moths to a light_**, the ironic thought echoed in his mind. Of course, Reno couldn't very well be considered a "light" in any other aspect than his hair; the man wasn't very bright - or acted as such most of the time - and it was better left unsaid for what brightness he _might _have lacked, he countered with rudeness.

He glimpsed only a second of twin scars underneath blue green eyes before Reno turned around sharply, his thin waist-length pony-tail flapping in his back as he raised his fist at the taller, dark haired man, conveying his thoughts to his superior in a rather annoyed fashion.

**_My point exactly…_** Sephiroth thought, staring at the man with slightly confused fascination. How did one lose their tempers so easily? He did not dislike the sluggish Turk (he rarely held such emotion for anyone… or _any_ emotion for that matter), he simply acknowledged the man for what and who he was… but that did not change the fact that he would never understand the sort of person that Reno was.

Lazy as he could be, the red-head still openly divulged his thoughts and emotions, which frequently bounced from one extreme to the other. Most of the time, it was noticeable that he wasn't concerned with what others thought of him; a trait that could only be found in a rash and reckless individual. Yet he, Reno, was still a professional. He knew to act cool, calm and collected when he needed to be.

He was of the Turks after all.

No, Sephiroth definitely could not understand this man with a presence larger than his own could ever be. The flame of his soul burned as bright as his incandescent hair; Sephiroth's held none whatsoever. The General might have brought awe to whom he was ever in the presence of, but Reno's blazing personality had much more presence… so much more _meaning_ than Sephiroth's empty shell.

Perhaps he somewhat envied such… _lively _traits.

He _might _have, had he the ability to feel such emotion.

The scarred man's trail of lazy complaints went unheard as Sephiroth diverted his attention to the taller, broad shouldered man adjacent to Reno. Standing there, his posture and silence exposed his unperturbed state to the insult his friend had just been served. His eyes were hidden underneath his eternal shades, destroying any chance of reading emotion that could have been seen through them. His shaven or naturally bare head nearly shone with the light coming from the windows behind them. The dark hair that was missing from his head was instead found around his mouth.

It was, more than likely, safe to assume that Rude might have _attempted_ to hit him had he ever heard the silver haired man make that kind of reference to his goatee. The… hairless man was very touchy on the subject of his… lack of hair. The fact that people dwelled on his baldness grated terribly on his nerves.

They exchanged a silent stare, as was tradition of their greeting; Rude and Sephiroth had always shared a unspoken complicity.

Then again, how could there _not_ be complicity when two said individuals always remained silent towards each other?

Hmm… a good question indeed…which was too deeply psycho-analysis-inclined for his tastes.

He wasn't a people person, obviously.

Had his idea of an understanding with the man been only a one-sided foolish belief all these years?

Sephiroth blinked slowly, inwardly confused.

_Utterly_ perplexed.

Since when had he even _cared_?

His brain needed a reboot; he had briefly wandered into the terrifying depths that were the universe of **_The Drama Queen_**.

Something _must_ have been wrong with him.

More and more of these… thoughts-slash-emotions had bubbled in his mind in the last month, which made it extremely straining for him. A few hours of mind activity - which didn't involve fighting tactics or other work related logic - was a very demanding task… and more than he could handle. They were aspects of life he was not accustomed to deal with and if he were to be completely honest, he had never felt the need to address them before; they usually just came and went through his mind, briefly tickling his conscience before they were quickly discarded with ease by his subconscious.

Only a few seconds had passed since Rude and himself had began to share their common greeting and set the silver haired man into an internal dilemma; a fact that awfully surprised Sephiroth as he suddenly realized.

Of course, no emotion had traced his features during that time, but still, at that very moment, Rude slowly raised a single dark eyebrow at him, as if understanding everything that had rushed through Sephiroth's mind.

Takes one to know one… or was that the saying?

No, Sephiroth was certainly not a people's person for he would have known the answer to that question.

The General decided that he had greeted Rude long enough and averted his gaze to the third man in the room; Tseng.

The long, dark haired Wutainese leader of the Turks, nodded politely at him, giving Sephiroth a thin, strained smile.

Strained because Reno was still complaining at him and he would soon need to tell him to shut up.

Tseng was a very polite man and usually addressed everyone (and everything) with a business-like civility. Swearing and rude behaviour were not some of his _fortes_ and were scarcely ever used by him.

Until he'd met Reno and let him join his team all those years ago, that is.

Sephiroth supposed the red-haired man was the biggest problem in Tseng's life, for he constantly needed to deal with someone whose behaviour was conflicting (not to mention completely opposite) to his own. His indifferent rudeness also often offended several of his superiors, which only put Tseng into more stressful predicaments.

However, Tseng had yet to remove him from the Turks, even though he had every good reason to do so. There was a fact that simply could not be ignored, no matter how insufferable Reno could be; he was very good at his job.

Rude and Sephiroth shared a mutual (and silent) acquaintanceship while Tseng and Reno shared a loud animosity. In truth, it could be viewed as a friendly relation. Friends, as some would put it. He preferred the term acquaintance, however. Tseng seemed more inclined to agree, since his attitude towards Reno was mostly a building tolerance. It seemed vaguely likely that he had even grown to enjoy the man's awfully irritating behaviour.

This aspect was, again, a mystery to Sephiroth. Relationships of any nature were not subjects he preferred to dwell upon, nor, again, had he ever felt the need to.

So why was it, again, that he was even considering them at this moment?

He wondered once more what had made him so uncommonly contemplative. If he continued to remain so, even though he was a naturally silent person around everyone, it would begin to be apparent. The Turks were here earlier than they usually were at Shinra meetings for a reason, after all; the General had made it a personal request.

"After all these years at Shinra, I would have assumed that one would have taught you to respect your superiors, Reno…" Sephiroth finally spoke, staring down at the red-head who had yet to finish complaining. His words held no real conviction, for he cared not about rules and knew better than to try and correct the careless Turk; everyone else had stopped long ago.

The three men whom all wore an identical dark blue business suit simultaneously averted their attentions to the silver haired man before them, somewhat surprised, as if having forgotten of his presence.

Reno, mouth still agape with the last complaint he had meant to voice, closed his mouth and smirked slowly, giving Sephiroth what he would have best described as a chester-like grin; the expression screamed mischief.

The lazy Turk took a single step closer to broad shouldered General and slung the arm which held his electro-rod over his shoulder, cocking his head to the side.

"Respect to my superiors? _You_ sure didn't seem to mind insubordination, yo…" Reno said, giving Sephiroth a knowing look.

The elite SOLDIER, had he been anyone else, would have narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the slighter man. Was he supposed to read something behind those words? Did Reno know something that others did not?

"**_Shut up!"_** a teenage boy's voice echoed in his mind, reminiscing the spiky haired blond's face staring up at him, azure eyes flaring with anger.

Yes, he supposed he was not one to mind insubordination.

Then again, one did not know how to respond to another's behaviour when faced with it for the very first time.

He decided not to dwell on _this_ matter either, nor the fact that the sneaky red-haired Turk seemed to know more than he should. He did not need more inconsistent thoughts; he'd gotten more than enough of his unusual dosage for today.

"Where is the file?" Sephiroth asked briskly, cutting their exchange straight to the matter at hand and by so doing, ignoring Reno's previous words as well as the canny stare the bright haired man was still sending him.

Reno sighed and fisted inside his jacket, pulling out a thin file. He extended it out to the General.

The brown folder was folded in two and was slightly wrinkled.

Perhaps it would have been a wiser decision to give Tseng his request, instead. Reno could be somewhat sloppy when it came to things that weren't particularly of important nature. This too, could be seen simply by the man's appearance; the way he wore his suit, the white dress shirt underneath his open jacket pulled out of his pants and buttons halfway undone, told everything. But alas, Reno had been the one Sephiroth had crossed pathes with first.

Paying no heed to the state of the folder, Sephiroth accepted it, unfolded it and read the dark letters stamped across it.

_**PERSONAL FILE**_

He opened it only to be faced with the same rebellious expression of the blond he had remembered only moments before.

"So whaddya want with this Cloud Strife, anyway, yo?" he asked, extending his neck nonchalantly to stare at the boy's picture inside the folder.

He did not respond to the Turk's inquiring words, reading the reports inside the teen's personal file. Cloud Strife; a country boy from Nibelheim of only 14 years of age and from what had been written by his instructors, the short teen could barely be considered an average SOLDIER candidate; no particularities nor special talents had been reported on his case.

He was simply a short, plain, _typical_ cadet - and he had walked up to him surely and squarely told him to shut up the previous morning.

Sephiroth blinked, eyes somewhat wider than normal.

He had believed that after screening through the teen's file, he would have been able to understand what had made the cadet so abnormally confident to have the courage of facing the General with such bluntness. Sephiroth had even considered that Cloud could perhaps be another pompous prodigy, or even a spoiled child who came from a rich, powerful family.

Never would he have expected to see such a bare and even rather _diminutive_ personal file.

At the beginning of the new academy semester, two months ago, he remembered seeing that same boy; how could he not have noticed such a rare sight amongst the crowd the young men? That day, he had made nothing of his presence at the academy, he had even forgotten about the sight of him, only to remember when they had met face to face the day before. He had simply pitied the boy knowing what kind of treatment one of his build would endure and had at the same time congradulated his foolish courage. The fact that the spiky haired blond had nearly shrunk under his gaze, that time, was excellent proof to his assumptions.

But what he had witnessed the day before changed the situation entirely.

He had felt, even _sensed_, the potential this boy held within him, even though he'd seen the fire in his small body quickly diminish and die as soon as Cloud had noticed him. The azure eyed cadet fought clumsily and without any technique whatsoever, yet with an exceptional passion through his rage.

He had expected to find more impressive a personal file.

He had assumed that by viewing said file, his confusion would have been dealt with. He had believed that he could find the cause of the boy's actions, that it could have been easily explained with personal information, academy reports and statistics. Instead, he now found himself even more perplexed.

He had a tendency to underestimate the complexity of individuals, he had to admit.

He did not, by any means, consider himself so superior and that therefore, he should be treated with utmost respect, no… but every one else _had_ done as such in the past. Reno acted nonchalantly towards him, yes, and even though he did not address Sephiroth in a very admiring or respectful way, he still never addressed him directly in a rude fashion and held his tongue where he would have usually insulted others. It was one of the reasons the tall General endured - even _liked_ - him more than most people.

But the Turk was in a somewhat high position in the Company whereas this mere cadet - _teenager _- nearly still a _child _- had done what no one else had ever been able to do.

Sephiroth felt something awaken inside on him, although, for the life of him, he could not determine **_what_** it was.

"Cloud Strife, hmm?" he paused, feeling the corner of his lips quirk slightly. "Interesting…"

The three Turks' nearly appalled stares went unnoticed as he once again found himself lost in his own confusion.

"E-Excuse me…" came a teenager's voice from the entrance of the room. All four occupants averted their attention towards him, somewhat startled at the sudden appearance.

There stood a short Wutainese boy wearing what seemed to be a Turks' uniform.

"I apologize for being late, sir… they had trouble finding a suit… small enough… for me…" the boy said awkwardly, staring down at his feet as crimson colored his cheeks discretely.

Tseng approached him slowly. "It's not a problem, Hiroki. The meeting has not yet started." he firmly put a hand on his shoulder.

"'That our new recruit, yo?" Reno whispered to Rude, who nodded in answer. "Keh! Givin' our suits to newbies… think that'll make 'em live any longer, yo?" Reno complained, staring out of the window behind Sephiroth, irritated.

"Should they not at least be allowed _some _sense of pride before the end?" Sephiroth asked rhetorically, his emotionless voice barely above a whisper. Rude nodded in agreement, his face more solemn than normal, if possible, while Reno shifted his attention opposite of the silver haired man's direction. They all knew that only a few number of Turks survived the life style; being a Turk was, by far, neither the noblest nor the safest of occupations and taking part of the organisation represented a great risk.

"Let me introduce you to your new co-workers," Tseng said calmly as he led the slighter Wutainese to the three other men present in the room.

"This is Reno," he motioned to the red haired man.

"Yo," Reno greeted, eyes narrowing as he cocked his head to the side; a posture he apparently thoroughly enjoyed.

"… And Rude," Tseng then turned to the hairless man.

The silent man simply nodded politely to the boy.

"Pleased to meet you," the boy named Hiroki said, his impassive tone betraying his words. He looked back and forth between Rude and Reno as if inspecting them, when finally his gaze settled on Sephiroth who stood a few steps behind the pair.

"Of course, you must already know the General," Tseng added off-handedly, noticing where the boy's eyes had fallen.

"Yes, I do. It's an honor, General Sephiroth…" but again, his tone deceived his words as his brown eyes narrowed suspiciously. He shot an even more mistrustful look at the folder the man still held between his gloved hands.

The reaction was extremely curious. Normal youngsters usually exploded into awkward praises of admiration before him.

He supposed he should have been thankful to the Planet that this boy hadn't, but this again, just as the other smallest of details rendered him confused as it had for the last two days, when normally he would have never given them a second thought. A meeting with all the head executives of the Shinra Company would soon be starting; he did not want, much less _need_ useless ponderings so he simply nodded coldly.

Turning around, he moved to the closest window and gazed down at the City below.

The view of the city truly was an excellent one from sixty-seventh floor of Shinra Headquarters.

But that was besides the point…

He successfully blocked all remaining thoughts from his mind as he looked at the buildings below.

He effectively forgot that he still held the personal file of a certain Cloud Strife in his left hand.

It was all irrelevant.

The eternal void of his mind had finally been re-established and stabilized when the head executives of each department of the company arrived. Sephiroth calmly sat down between Tseng and Reeve, the Head of Urban Development, neatly folding Cloud Strife's personal file, sliding it in the pocket inside his leather coat. The dark shoulder length haired man beside him smiled softly.

Reeve was another of the few people he could endure more than most. His friendly and open-minded attitude could warm up to someone even as cold as Sephiroth, if only a little.

He would not have gone as far as to consider him a friend, for he did not yet understand the principles and logistics of such relationships, but he was… a good acquaintance, he supposed.

The turquoise eyed man acknowledged the older man's smile with a polite nod and switched his mind to its "business-mode" as the meeting began, the President having made his entrance, Vice president - a.k.a. his son - in tow.

Each executive reported the going-ons of their department, requested and suggested diverse things to the President at the same time as they conversed, or argued with some of the other Heads of the company. Sephiroth listened through it all with a detached interest and remained silent until the end, talking only when Heidegger asked him his report on the task that had been assigned to him the night before his meeting with two spiky haired individuals.

"Sgt Zack Charon's evaluation determined that he was not yet apt of becoming a fully-fledged SOLDIER, sir." Sephiroth informed the obese, dark haired and bearded man.

Heidegger, although he sadly had to refer as 'boss', was _not_ one of the people he preferred. He could normally remain unaffected by his incessant laughter and attitude, but he was convinced that today would probably not be a good one to test his tolerance; correction – his newly acquainted tolerance, for he had never felt the need to use such a term before.

Something was truly changing inside of him and it was frankly… _unsettling_.

Irritation seemed to flash in the executive's eyes. "And exactly why is that, _Sephiroth_?"

"I did not deem him ready for what it is one must face as a SOLDIER," he simply answered emotionlessly, his aqua eyes staring calmly into the older man's dark ones; he disliked those eyes filthy of greed.

"From what I heard, the man showed great promise; that he deserved a higher rank than the one he occupies now," Heidegger continued, the irritation rising in his tone.

Sephiroth could always see the thirst for power and control in this man. He knew why he was unhappy that a new SOLDIER was not admitted to his army. He understood why the man always seemed to be irritated with him. Heidegger wished to entirely control those under his command, craved their fear of him, but he had never yet accomplished the task with Sephiroth and it seemingly frustrated him to no end.

"Had he become a SOLDIER, he would have endangered future missions, something I assumed this company would not have benefitted from," came Sephiroth's reply, his stare at the man's eyes never wavering, which simply darkened the man's already foul mood.

"He would have learned like every other new recruit! As Head of Public Safety Maintenance-"

"Do you question my judgement, sir?" Sephiroth asked icily, interrupting the foolish man's tirade.

Fear suddenly grew inside those dark irises as General's words seemed to echo in the large man's mind, remembering who exactly Sephiroth was. Heidegger was his superior, but in the end, he was no match for the army's most powerful and ruthless SOLDIER.

The fat coward's mouth closed sharply. Anger was exploding relentlessly inside of him and yet, he had no choice but to restrain it.

Sephiroth did not abuse of his power; he merely knew exactly which words to use with arrogant rich men of his nature. He stared intensely at his superior, coolly waiting for the moment the man would give up the fight.

The Head of Public Safety did as he had expected only seconds after, averting his gaze sharply, grumbling furiously to himself.

"Let the man do what he thinks is best, Heidegger," President Shinra finally spoke sternly. "He knows what is best for his army, after all - he wouldn't be the General and best SOLDIER this nation has ever had, if not…" the blond man finished smirking, eyes lighting with something Sephiroth dared not interpret.

"Continue your wonderful work, Sephiroth," Shinra said to the General, tone full of praise, as he shot Heidegger a last sharp look.

The silver haired man nodded politely and averted his eyes away from the President shortly after. He did not enjoy seeing the permanent look of near-sadistic glee that always seemed to be present in the man's eyes when they settled on him.

The meeting ended only moments after, to Sephiroth's relief. Scarlet, the Head of the Weapon Development Division, a woman who always dressed in whorish apparels and showed extremely too much skin for his tastes, sat across him at every meeting, repeatedly sending suggestive looks at him. Amongst all the other things he had to bitterly endure through these events, he definitely did not need more of her attention.

Thankfully, she was one of the first to leave the conference room along with the President, his son, Heidegger, Palmer and the Turks. All in all, no one ever remained in this room longer than it was required of them.

"Well, another boring meeting over," Reeve yawned to his right, while Tseng, to his left, stood up and joined the other members of his team whom were already out of the room, close to the door, Reno always one to eagerly flee a conference... the others had simply followed, he supposed.

Sephiroth noticed that another dark haired man stood with them, speaking with Reno.

The man wore a white lab coat over his shoulders, his hands held together behind his back as he conversed with the red-haired man, long greasy black hair tied low in the back of his neck.

**_Hojo._** The man's name echoed in his mind with the same sensation of bitter distaste it always did.

The scientist had not attended the meeting - he rarely ever did. He was only ever present when very specific reasons demanded it... but here he was, after it had already ended, talking to one of the Turks… to _Reno_…

He felt something tickle at his mind, but it had blissfully remained blank until now and he preferred to keep it that way.

"Hey, Sephiroth, how about we have coffee together some time?" Reeve asked, his friendly tone pulling the tall SOLDIER out of his thoughts.

The silver haired man averted his attention away from Hojo, thankful for the executive's fortunate timing.

"No," the word dutifully slipped out of his mouth before he even considered the man's offer.

Reeve frowned at him. "Are you going to tell me coffee's not good or something?"

Sephiroth stared down at the man for a brief moment. "It isn't; caffeine is addictive and causes people to act dreadfully irritable in the morning, if deprived of their daily dosage…"

Reeve opened his mouth, about to add something, but apparently thought better of it because he closed it a second later, smiling. He shook his head in amused disbelief.

"You need to unwind from time to time, Sephiroth," he said and reached for the silver haired man's arm, patting it gently.

The first class SOLDIER stared down at the man's paddling hand emotionlessly yet internally confused. Why were people acting so strangely towards him as of late? Were they all out to drive him utterly and completely insane?

"Unwind…?" was the only word that managed to slip through his lips, as he was at last able to look back at Reeve's face when the man finally removed his hand. He never knew how to deal with these types of friendly gestures. Part of him always felt the urge to ask 'why?' like a four year old.

Perhaps in some aspects, he still was.

To others, it might have appeared as though he had stared at Reeve's hand in an attempt to dematerialize it, as one would want to destroy a very offensive thing, but truthfully, he simply could not help it. His stare always remained cold and unfeeling.

Perhaps he should practice different expressions in front of a mirror?

He mentally reproached himself; he was thinking again.

"Yeah, you know, relax… you always look so tense and I don't know… how old are you now, twenty-three? Shouldn't you be getting drunk every night and waking up to unbearable hangovers, not to mention strangers in your bed of whom you have no memory of?" Reeve winked lecherously at him, chuckling happily.

Sephiroth… stared.

He stared blankly like never before.

Silently…

For a _long_ time.

Had it been summer in the middle of an open field, crickets would have joyously sung to make themselves known.

Reeve always seemed to bring up the strangest of subjects, but of course, his repeated attempts at conversation usually ended up fruitless and the metaphorical crickets always made their entrance in the end.

Reeve finally sighed, rubbing the back of his head as he looked away from Sephiroth's blank stare and shook his head, laughing softly.

"Guess not…" he sighed "I should know better than this, shouldn't I? It's kind of pathetic of me to keep on trying… how many times has it been now?"

"I have honestly lost count," Sephiroth answered with an inscrutable sincerity.

Reeve quirked an eyebrow at him, laughter apparent in his amused brown eyes. "That was more of what you would call 'rhetorical' question…"

This was becoming _quite_ troublesome.

Sephiroth could not possibly reply anything to that. What was there **_to_** answer? People usually left when things became silent. It made them awkward… but not Reeve, evidently.

The man really was a good acquaintance - he was simply a _strange_ one, at that... but then again, to Reeve's eyes, he supposed _he_ was the strange one.

"Okay, no coffee then… is there _something_ you actually _like_ to do?" Reeve inquired in a tone of mock despair.

Why all the inquiries, so suddenly? Had he perhaps looked more strained than he had previously believed? Reeve had attempted to approach him several times in the past, trying to befriend him and he had politely declined any offer, having no interest in social meetings... but this was the furthest Reeve had ever gone, by asking him something of personal nature.

Perhaps he should try to scare him to prevent him from ever trying again? This was a disconcerting, unfamiliar territory for him to deal with. Sephiroth was used to order, something his mind had found extremely hard to obtain in the last hour.

"Fighting…" the word escaped his mouth before he gave it much thought and yes, he concurred, he did very much enjoy that. He could succumb to the adrenaline, the rush of fire inside his every nerve, the burning sensation of the boiling blood running through his veins. He finally felt alive. In those precious moments, he could drown in the void of his mind and let his instincts take over the task of making the intricate calculations needed to overcome his opponent.

A burst of laughter brought him out of his reverie and he blinked down at the chuckling man before him.

"Now, why didn't I see **_that_** coming?" he shook his head. "I think I'll pass... I'd prefer keeping _all_ of my members intact, thank you." Giving the younger man a last smile, he turned around, moving towards the exit of the room. "I'll see you around then, General." he said over his shoulder, mock-saluting him and disappearing behind the wall as he turned left past the threshold.

Sephiroth quickly pushed the entire encounter out of his mind before it crawled its way into his consciousness and nagged at him for hours. He swiftly, yet calmly made his way out of the conference room only to be stopped as soon as he stepped out of the room by the slithery, gruesome voice that he knew so well.

"Sephiroth," Hojo spoke behind him.

The silver haired man did not even turn around to address him, simply waiting to let the man continue on to whatever business he had with him.

"I believe you missed your monthly examination yesterday," the scientist said in the same creepily pleased tone he always used when talking about his test subjects; it was also a tone, unfortunately, he seemed to reserve to Sephiroth as well.

Yes, Sephiroth was well aware of the fact that he had missed the examination; he would be missing all of the future ones, also. He did not understand why they needed to be conducted in the first place, aside from his monthly dosage of health supplements... but in contrary to what Hojo believed, he did not think he needed such medical attention. His health had always been more than perfect; he did not need any kind of treatment to insure the absolute balance of his body's metabolism.

"What is the purpose of this conversation, Hojo?" Sephiroth queried somewhat rudely, looking at the man over his shoulder. He reserved this tone for _this_ man alone.

"Oh, I simply wished to know how you were feeling…" Hojo said, his eyes roaming over Sephiroth's body, calculating, as if scanning it for whatever it was his insane scientific mind could convey.

The beginnings of suspicion awakened inside the General's mind. The mad man was up to something.

"I am feeling quite fine… if you'll excuse me, I have more important business to attend to," he terminated the conversation abruptly, turning his gaze away from the man as he took a step forward to leave.

"**_Do_** come and visit the lab again some time, Sephiroth," were the last words Sephiroth heard the scientist speak as he left the man to his own devices.

He had never enjoyed the man's presence or his lab and today was no exception.

No, today was even worst. He could distinctively feel the rush of throbbing fire inside his chest, a feeling that normally always accompanied the man's presence… but it was usually much more subdued.

He did not appreciate these new developing sensations and myriad of thoughts.

He had a feeling that Hojo might have taken notice of them also… and it was all the more a reason to avoid the scientist.

He would never ask advice from _his_ kind.

He would rather suffer these new developments instead of ever alerting the scientist of his slight discomforts.

The spiky blond teen was a pitiful sight indeed as he groaned loudly, letting his head fall against the table he was sitting at. The _thump_ as his head collided with the table went unheard, drowned in the bustling noises of the lively crowd of military men around him.

The Mess Hall was always less crowded at dinner time, but for some reason, it didn't make the environment any less insufferably loud.

Or maybe the whopper head-ache he was suffering from at the moment was amplifying every little sound around him.

Correction; **_body_** ache.

Cloud – to put it clearly - felt like _shit_… or more like a pile of dog excrement left on the side of the road that had been ran over by a rabid hoard of… something… _very_ heavy… at least a hundred times.

Then again, he was also renowned to be a fatalistic pessimist, but that was beside the point; every inch of his body **_still _**throbbed like crazy.

_Again_… but he could still feel something dancing happily in the pit of his stomach, no matter how miserable and battered he felt.

Cloud knew that he was finally starting to make progress with Zack's help. He had almost won against Zack this morning and the previous one - of course, _that_ time his chances had utterly been crushed by a… a particular distraction… which had almost participated in the materialization of his own demise.

No - even worst - had nearly cost him all of his remaining pride.

Never mind that he had told General Sephiroth himself to shut up – quite rudely at that – he had nearly disgraced himself by trying to prove the silver haired swords master that he was wrong in his consideration of the term 'weakness'.

Oh yeah, like _he_ was one to talk, Mister Spiky Haired Shorty **_Cadet_**.

He let his blond head drop again, enjoying with a somewhat masochistic interest the banging sound it brought as his face bashed against the metal surface. For some reason, he found the whole situation hilarious and the 'thump' he himself made in the process of hurting his head against the table made chuckles bubble inside his stomach, which were promptly hidden behind groans with every new collision.

Yep, he had finally gone nuts.

He'd just let his head fall against the table once more when a ruffling sound was heard in front of him, on the other side of the table.

He raised his eyes slightly, chin still resting against the wooden surface. He was greeted by the sight of two full duffel bags resting on the bench in front of him, a frowning Wutainese boy standing behind them.

"Going somewhere…?" Cloud asked more out of obligation than genuine interest, his words a near incomprehensible grumble. His throat had become clogged by lack of use of his vocal cords, causing him, once again, to sound like a total retard.

Why did he always manage to make a fool out of himself without even _trying_; if, at least, he produced an effort to do so, he could receive the title of "goof off" instead of "total idiot".

But of course, his reputation would forever be destined to remain... shitty... for lack of more eloquent terms. Not that he even particularly cared about the articulatory state of his sentences (or total absence thereof).

Why did an absolute moron need to sound intelligent anyways? It seemed that whatever words came out of his mouth ended up being used to his disadvantage whichever the case.

The dark haired teen in front of him, of course, frowned down at the pitiful sight that Cloud probably was, before sitting down in front of him, laying his duffel bags on the floor underneath the table.

"Turks members and recruits have special housing in the main building of Shinra HQ. I'm leaving tonight." The slight Wutainese explained.

Cloud reminded himself that even though he might have amused himself with his "head banging" (literally) game a few minutes ago, it would probably look less lamentable to others if he straightened himself up in his seat. He still had a reputation as die-hard stubborn fool to protect after all. Obstinate shorties did not show defeat... often.

He had decided never to show the weak, resigned attitude he had once shown to others, back in Nibelheim. He had left that scared, defenseless boy back home, in the memories of all those who had once tormented him. He would show them all one day. He would show Tifa, more importantly, what he was capable of. He had a promise to keep after all.

Now... that was just becoming cheesy. He mentally shook himself back to normal.

He couldn't think back on those dreadful memories. That 'Cloud' didn't exist anymore.

He sat up slowly, cocking his head to the side to pop the bones in his neck which had began to feel extremely stiff.

"So you're really going to start your training as a Turk?" Cloud asked his friend, actually starting to take interest in the conversation. His moment of self-pity had ended. He once again silently reproached his mind for letting himself feel such emotions in the first place.

"Absolutely!" Hiro beamed. "It should be alot more interesting than fighting and training. The whole idea of becoming a SOLDIER or even just a lowly grunt is sooooooo boring."

Cloud narrowed his eyes, eyeing the almond eyed youth doubtfully. "Coward..." he scoffed. "You're just glad that there'll be a reserved spot just for you in the shadows instead of on the front lines."

Hiroki smirked haughtily. "Well, at least I know _I'll _be comfortably hidden, watching _you_ while you're out there working your ass off and getting your face bashed in by disgusting monsters scattered all over Gaia... oh and don't forget angry citizens and terrorist organizations!"

Cloud sighed shaking his head in disbelief and exasperation. He would never understand how some people, like Hiroki, could not be filled with pride at the thought of becoming powerful, of risking ones life. He could not understand how some people could not feel every vein inside their bodies pulsing with adrenaline at the mere thought of a battle, of the thrill it can provide.

Hiroki's brown eyes suddenly darkened solemnly. "I'm just glad that my future has been safely decided, now. I won't ever live in the slums, act like one of the slums... eat like one of the slums..."

The blond haired boy suddenly felt awkward at the sudden turn in his friend's mood. He didn't know what life in the Slums meant, but from the seriousness of Hiroki's usually carefree attitude, he didn't really want to know.

He suddenly understood why Hiro had acted so strongly to Zack's words a few days ago, when he had explained just exactly what could be heard about the Turks, down in the Slums.

The heavy atmosphere abruptly lifted when Cloud unexpectedly let out a sharp cry of pain, his upper body thrusting forward roughly. His face might have collided with the table once more (in a much more brutal way than before) if his newly developped reflexes hadn't reacted instantly by lifting his arms and clapping his palms flat against the table, safely stopping the brusque movement caused by the unforeseen shove.

The spiky haired teen glared over his shoulder at the gloved hand still against his shoulder, the evil doer which had dealt the blow on his already painful back, curtesy of Zack Charon.

Had he been a cat, the hairs along his back would have puffed in displeasure as he hissed angrily at him... but he obviously wasn't a cat, so he could only scowl heatedly at the older man while Zack grinned friendly at both Hiroki and himself, oblivious to his actions' effects on his unofficial trainee, which of course only worsened the spiky haired cadet's foul temper.

Zack's deep blue eyes widened in wonder as he finally focused his attention solely on Cloud, cocking his head to the side innocently.

Zack... innocent? Ha!

The bastard was rubbing it in. In fact, Cloud was seriously considering the option of removing the name "Zack" itself from that official list of name that existed _somewhere_ and replace it by "bastard". He knew, without possible doubt, that Cloud was in pain (and had been ever since their first day of training, at that) and took every chance he had to remind him.

But more importantly...

What the hell was he doing here? This was the first time Zack had ever come to see him outside of training business, in front of other people (excluding Hiroki), no less . He had managed until now to slip out from his dorm room every morning before Bill woke up. Luckily, the brute had been absent on several occasions, probably partying with his other neanderthal friends... now that he thought about it, he'd rarely ever seen the asshole anywhere else than during practical training and theoretical classes where he made it his duty to make Cloud's life most unbearable, as usual.

But that was beside the point; he'd been able to let his training with Zack go unnoticed up until now and the idiot was going to ruin it all by letting Cloud be seen in his presence... in public!

He could already hear the other cadets' sneering voices, taunting him. He knew what they would think - what it probably seemed to other's eyes **_already;_** weak shorty boy was getting special treatment from kind, compassionate Sergeant Charon. Sometimes, he, himself, still believed that it was what Zack truly did, no matter what he had said before the training began and no matter how difficult he made it for Cloud. He couldn't help but think that he had taken pity of him and decided to keep him under his wing.

He'd rather die than to ever be treated differently because of pity or have others think that of him.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Cloud hissed viciously at the taller young man, pushing his hand (which Zack had yet failed to remove from his back) off him. "Go away!"

Zack frowned at him, his grin never wavering. "What ever for, Cloudy-Boy! Hey... that rhymes... wait... uh... not really..." he chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, apparently embarrassed.

"... because!" Cloud growled angrily under his breath, frustrated at his helplessness in this situation; Zack was too damn carefree to deal with. He didn't want to be seen with Zack but like hell he would explain anything to that imbecile! He wouldn't look more pathetic than he probably already did.

Zack pouted childishly. "I thought we could hang out... besides, I better watch your back in case Sephiroth suddenly decides to pop in and kick your ass for yesterday's... happenings; we're buds after all, now, aren't we?"

"Like hell, we are!" Cloud spat at him, still keeping his voice low so as to not attract more attention to Zack and himself. He hadn't dared assure himself that no one was staring at them, but he was certain he could feel eyes all over him, mocking glances watching him intently.

"Hey, Cloud..." Hiroki's voice suddenly broke through his paranoid thoughts just as Zack was rolling his eyes at him, momentarily pushing his anger and panic away from his conscience.

The blond haired teen quicklly glanced towards the dark eyed boy on the other side of the table, having almost forgotten of his presence.

Cloud simply gave him an annoyed, inquiring look to silently ask him what it is he wanted.

The wutainese Turks recruit paused for a second, frowning in thought. "Could you... have done something... incredibly outrageous to draw the attention of General Sephiroth himself?" he asked in an almost concerned tone.

The spiky haired blond's eyes widened slightly as he flinched awkwardly at the question.

Zack, who still stood beside him, scoffed once before chuckling lightly. Hiroki's gaze fell sharply on Zack, only to slide back quickly to Cloud, eyes narrowed in both intense curiosity and worry.

Cloud cowered slightly under Hiroki's perplexed stare, looking away.

Ever since it had happened, he hadn't felt very proud of himself for his actions towards not only the General of Shinra Military, but the world's most respected SOLDIER. He had even harshly reproached himself - and mentally given himself numerous proper kicks where he needed it most - but now that Hiroki inquired on the very fact without even knowing and stared at him with an almost grave expression, he couldn't help but feel utterly ashamed.

"Kind of..." Cloud finally answered, shrugging with practiced indifference, his aloof tone betrayed by a light trace of controlled uneasiness as he stared down at the table in front of him adamantly. He refused to show more of his feelings than what could not be stopped from being revealed.

"**_Kind_** of?" Zack repeated, amused. "I'd say it was more around the lines of 'hell yeah'! And of course followed by 'murder me now'." the dark spiky haired young man happily corrected.

Cloud shot him another murderous glare just as Hiroki raised an eyebrow questioningly, quietly pressing Cloud to elaborate.

The short blond groaned miserably before taking a deep breath. He really was condemned to make a total fool of himself over and over again. "Yesterday, during my training, Sephiroth, of all people, came to see Zack for this special SOLDIER evaluation-"

"-And between you and me, that's gotta mean something; having Sephiroth conduct your evaluation before the due time!" Zack whispered conspiratorially to Hiro, hiding his mouth behind the back of his hand. Hiroki blinked, a corner of his mouth quirking with restrained lauughter.

Cloud glowered. "... and... one thing led to another...and I just... ended up being rude to him."

Zack scoffed once more, which made Cloud all the more nervous when Hiroki seemed to grow more worried, staring at him silently.

"... _rude_?" the other cadet finally asked him after a few short moments.

Cloud glanced to the side stubbornly. He had enough of feeling guilty and pathetic and stupid already. It wasn't the end of the world! What he had done surely hadn't been **_that_** bad... right?

"This guy here," Zack pointed towards Cloud sharply and paused in his words, for dramatic effect, of course; **_he_** was having a blast out of this. "_yelled_ at Sephiroth... and told him to _shut up_."

Hiroki's jaw dropped, his eyes bulging impossibly as he stared at Cloud in utter disbelief.

The spiky haired boy averted his eyes stubbornly, avoiding Hiroki's appalled look. He refused to acknowledge and be reminded by someone else the fact that he was a total fool. He had enough of his own conscience nagging at him, he did not need, or want anyone else rubbing it in anymore.

"He was being an asshole himself..." he explained defensively. "and... and what was he even doing awake at that time of day? Shouldn't a General like him be comfortably sleeping in his king sized bed or something?" he added, having successfully added bitterness in his irritated tone of voice to make sure his own shame was safely hidden.

"Of course, only Cloud Strife would be able to justify his disrespect against The Great Sephiroth..." Hiroki shook his head in exasperation and incredulity, sighing. "And FYI, Shinra Company never closes. In HQ, people work 24/7. They have several shift changes through out the day; the General probably had night shift and had been asked to meet Zack the evening before, I would figure..." Hiroki explained, always willing to divulge his knowledge. He of course, forgot to say that he in fact, knew the answer to this matter, for he had attended the conference yesterday, in which Heidegger had heatedly divulged his displeasure at Sephiroth's refusal to admit Sgt Charon into his SOLDIER ranks.

He had been somewhat surprised that even Turks recruits had to be present to meetings in the first place; all members of the organization needed to be aware of the company's situation at all times, apparently. The Turks were the company's eyes and ears, he needed to learn very quickly. New recruits were scarce and precious.

"You know, I actually heard Sephiroth often takes two shifts in a row and-"

"Spare me the gossip!" Cloud groaned in annoyance. Although, if he were to be completely honest with himself, the mention of Sephiroth had piqued his interest; all the more a reason to have Hiroki shut up about it.

He could not let his admiration for Sephiroth take over.

"Fine, Fine..." Hiroki relented, smiling softly in amusement. Stretching lazily, he slowly reached for his duffel bags beneath him and stood up, walking towards Cloud's side of the table. "Well, I should be going. Watch yourself, Cloudy-boy; I won't be there to watch out for you anymore."

Cloud glared murderously at him as he stood up angrily. "Like you ever **_did_**... and don't you **_dare_** call me that too!"

The mischievous Wutainese grinned at him. "Well, anyways... uh... we might see each other again; the main Shinra Building is right between the two Military buildings, after all..."

Cloud nodded. The two teenagers stared at each other for a few moments, both uncertain of what should be said next.

They were both extremely grateful for eachother's acquaintanceship, for they would have been alone for their first months at the academy, if not for one another. But to voice these sorts of feelings of gratitude...

Cloud, after thorough consideration, decided upong smiling thinly and with slight discomfort. He hated these kind of situations and apparently, for once, Hiroki seemed no better.

"See you around, Hiro..." the blond spoke softly, uncertain.

The dark haired cadet smiled gratefully at Cloud and nodded in understanding. Perhaps the spiky haired boy and he understood each other more than they believed.

They again shared a silent moment, gazing into each other's eyes. The silence which could've been considered disturbing did nothing to disrupt the intense moment Cloud and Hiroki shared with each other. True, no words were spoken, but between each other, between that _intense_ gaze…they knew what the other had in mind. They knew what was going on. They knew neither one was able of properly setting up the good-byes so they stayed content with what was what.

"Aaaaaw! This is all too much! All in my arms!"

That was until an inhumanly loud outburst shattered their peace.

Zack, whom Cloud had almost forgotten about, nearly squealed, causing a shudder to run down his spine. The short cadet's blue eyes widened impossibly when the words finally registered in his mind and he saw Zack extending his arms on both sides of his body, moving closer to Hiroki and him.

He only moved to kill when the next words followed.

"GROUP HUUUUUG!" Zack sang heartilly and Cloud sprung, shoving both his palms against the taller man's firm chest, putting all his strength and lowly weight in his thrust.

"Hands off!" he snarled, cheeks flaring with both anger and embarassment. Hiroki on the other hand, stayed rooted there on the ground, gaping at Zack's extended arms. The sudden, unexpected outburst left him dumbfounded, struck and at loss for words.

It wasn't everyday you fell upon this sort of jovial charisma. In a place like Shinra, anyway. And to think that was a renowned Sergeant acting that way!

The whole idiocy of the situation finally sank in, and the more he thought over it the more distinctive his chuckles grew. Unknown to him, Cloud looked like he was going to strangle him in any given moment.

"Hey, c'mon now, this is your last moment together! Where are all the friendly kisses, the strong embraces! I wanna feel some affection, some man love, here! You gotta learn how to live a little, dude!" Zack exclaimed, unconcerned, waving his hands animatedly and closing them into fists with passion.

"What the hell?! What kind of _teletubby freak_ do you think I am? You're insane! Go get yourself some _man love_ with other mascots!" Cloud raged.

"Party-pooper..." he pouted. He sighed dramatically, turning around with an obviously false dejected expression. Taking a first step away from the pair of cadets, he looked over his shoulder. "Show more respect to your superiors, Strife," Zack instructed with an awfully fake low voice, imitating the tone of an angry uptight officer. The corner of his lips quirked with amusement, unable to completely wear his mask of disgruntled authority. "We wouldn't want **_another_** officer on your ass, would we?" He added, winking mischievously before walking away, joining another group of Sergeants several meters away.

Cloud reminded himself to control the violent impulses he wanted to release upon Zack; he **_was_** his superior, after all, as impossible as the situation may seem. Instructors rarely ate at the Mess Hall, but if Cloud was found disrespecting an officer, that too could arouse suspicion among others. He needed to calm down.

Even _if_ Bastard had again taken pleasure into rubbing in the fact that he had acted foolishly.

He closed his eyes slowly and took a deep calming breath.

When he glanced to the side, Hiroki was staring at Zack, eyes wide with shock as he blinked repeatedly.

"He's crazy..." he said, shaking his head.

"Don't remind me..." Cloud groaned miserably.

"You're **_sooooooo_** stuck with him for the rest of your life..." Hiroki scoffed.

Cloud did not take the time to grace those words with an actual response and simply groaned this time, sitting back down on his chair and hiding his face behind his hands. He stayed this way for several minutes and finally removed his hands from his face to look up, still feeling Hiroki's presence behind him.

He looked over his shoulder. "Don't you have somewhere to go?" he snapped, seeing the grin on his friend's face.

"Yeah... I do, but seeing you drowning in self-pity is too priceless to miss," the Wutainese boy dodged the fist throwned at him and quickly swung his bags over his shoulder, running away.

"Good luck!" He taunted, looking over his shoulder as he rushed out of the Cafeteria.

Cloud hid his face behind his hands once more, grumbling.

Hidden beneath his palms, no one could see the soft smile that graced his lips.

Yeah, he was definitely going nuts, because, for the life of him, he could not find any reason for his need to smile, nor the pleasant blankness of his mind.

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TBC

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**_Comments: _**_Man, that was one LONG chapter, huh? Well... I hope you all liked it... and, again... I WILL try to update sooner!_

_Please review! Your comments mean the world to me!_


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